JPEGMAFIA is an experimental rapper, singer, and producer from Baltimore, and he recently dropped his latest effort, the 18-track All My Heroes Are Cornballs. This album serves as a collection of his whole range of talents with each track being self-produced, arranged, and engineered. The tracklist showcases a wide range of sounds and styles, some tapping into a lo-fi vibe while others will be sure to incite some moshing.
All My Heroes Are Cornballs is simply outstanding. In today’s age where a lot of Hip Hop can be considered repetitive or unoriginal, JPEG’s certainly settling into his own lane. We’re lucky to be in a time where Alternative Rap is starting to turn up and Peggy’s shown pioneer-like qualities within whatever sub-genre listeners like to put him in. His unique style has sent him headfirst into today’s scene and we’re sure looking forward to what he’ll be able to produce in the future.
Here are our top 5 tracks off of All My Heroes Are Cornballs.“Grimy Waifu”
JPEG produces a softer, guitar-led ballad on Grimy Waifu, waifu being an anime term for love.
Peggy presents this song as a love ballad for his gun and bullets, mixing his singing and unique rap flow. Although this is only a one verse track, Peggy stretches it out with production variances and an outro to make this track an absolute journey. Early on in the project, it’s clear that music heads will have a lot of unique production styles to appreciate.
“Thot Tactics”
Thot Tactics is no doubt one of my favorites of this album, the blissful and abstract production compliments his flow so well. This angelic hook is sung from a female’s standpoint and he creates a dope sense of dialogue between the verse and chorus. Production is top tier, especially the production ‘bridge’ right before the verse. Witty and aggressive one-liners are prominent, one verse is all he needs to make this a memorable track.
“Post Verified Lifestyle”
Opens up with a dope old-school hard hip-hoppy beat that he tears apart. Peggy’s holding nothing back line after line, once saying, “I don’t hide from you bums”. He’s letting everyone know why he’s at where he’s at. The second half of the track relaxes a bit, allowing for JPEG to preach a bit more directly. “Beanie Sigel, mixed with Beatles with a dash of DOOM at 98 degrees”. Facts.
“Dots Freestyle”
First off, if you haven’t watched every single episode of Kenny Beats’ The Cave, you’re missing out. They turned Peggy’s episode into something magical on this remix. Heavy compression on the kick gives it a spacey feel and although it’s generally simplistic production, his cadence keeps the tempo moving well. The hook is dope, featuring a psychedelic feel and a dope feature from Buzzy Lee. Talented musician Abdu Ali also helped bring this track alive through production.
“Papi I Missed U”
On the outro track of All My Heroes Are Cornballs, Peggy has several messages for his listeners over dope lo-fi-esq production. He sprinkles aspects of the “horror-core” genre while continually educating us with aggressive one-liners. Peggy spends a portion of the track reminiscing on his past but also, he finds time to let people in his way know that he’ll end up on top. The track leaves a bit of an eerie aftertaste, but in the best way possible.
