Them tunes

The lockdown has meant that I’ve been able to dig deeper into the discography of a few artists lately.

One artist in particular that I’ve been listening to a lot is JPEGMAFIA. I’ve been a big listener of his for the past few years and his last album All My Heroes Are Cornballs was my AOTY last year. His level of production is truly off the wall, like a scratched Playstation One disc that’s been uploaded via Tor and spat out the other side. His use of a Ridge Racer 4 sample in BALD! is one such example, and results in songs that are like nothing else ever done before in my opinion.

I don’t think his comparison to Death Grips is fair. While I understand that his earlier work had production that sounds somewhat like a Death Grips record (the song Baby I’m Bleeding is a good example), JPEGMAFIA’s lyrics are highly political, full of clever wordplay and excellent delivery. You get the impression that this is a person who truly cares about his craft, but doesn’t give a damn at the same time. He is genuinely doing it for the music and is making it how he wants - just looking at some of his song titles is a testament to this.

Personally I find his music and artistry incredibly refreshing and inspiring. I think this kind of mindset translates into all arenas of life, and it gives me a renewed sense of motivation towards my own ongoing projects.

T.