International terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2008 crash, outrage culture and the memeification of current affairs: This is the backdrop upon which hip-hop artist JPEGMafia makes music. Fans call the LA-based musician Peggy, and his new album, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, dropped in early August. Peggy performs August 13 at McDonald Theatre in Eugene.
Brutal and uncompromising, Peggy’s latest release foregrounds electric guitars and punishing, hard funk beats, similar to Peggy’s five-album catalog, beginning with his 2016 debut album black ben carson. Bad Brains and Dr. Dre are represented equally in Peggy’s DNA. Meanwhile, his athletic flow, profane sense of humor and verbal dexterity recall Kendrick Lamar.
Most importantly, though, Peggy’s new album is wall-to-wall bangers, a psychological and emotional expectorant after too much doom-scrolling amid alt-right normalization, Black social justice demonstrations and a frayed social contract.
“I’m so terminally online, goddamn I gotta check myself. I’m so terminally online, goddamn I don’t respect myself,” Peggy, an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq, raps on “JIHAD JOE,” off the new record.
Otherwise, MY LIFE leans on hyperpop bridges, with a reggae detour on “Exmilitary,” and jazz horn samples on “JPEGULTRA!” featuring Denzel Curry, another compelling voice in modern hip hop.
Besides Curry, both Vince Staples and Buzzy Lee guest on the album. And a side note for Eugene audiences: Album opener, “i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone,” begins with “If I was an NBA player, I’d be Dillon Brooks but worse,” a former University of Ducks basketball star now embracing his in-game role as a villain in the NBA.
In the past, Peggy has taken a hard stance against alt-right influencers. “First off, fuck Elon Musk,” Peggy raps on “Lean Beef Patty,” off last year’s SCARING THE HOES, a Danny Brown collaboration.
But in January Peggy shared an Instagram picture featuring Kanye West, who was wearing a Burzum shirt, a Norwegian black metal band whose leader, Varg Vikernes, known for far-right ideology, was sentenced in 1996 to 21 years in prison for church burnings and murder.
Separating the art from the artist won’t be settled here — or anywhere, perhaps — but Peggy explained the Ye meet-up in a since-deleted post on X. “when i said i love an artist theres nothing political about it ye is my favorite artist of all time. Ive been saying it for years. If it wasnt for him i wouldnt be here period. And i love him period,” Peggy wrote in part. “dont round me up to be a nazi because your sheltered and stupid and have no respect or context for anything black or for my experiences as black man in this country,” he added.
As always, Peggy excels at giving his audience what they think they don’t want as provocation. EW reached out for an interview via his official website. The website message confirming it received the message said, “We won’t read it.” Peggy defies explanation — but as the terminally online often say, it builds engagement. In an unlikely pairing, JPEGMafia performs alongside emo-adjacent musician Jane Remover, supporting her 2023 release Census Designated and her new single “Flash in the Pan,” 8 pm Tues Aug. 13 at McDonald Theatre; $35 advance, $40 door, all-ages.