No Frills Reviews

Taking the pretension out of music reviews.

Album Review: JPEGMAFIA – I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

It’s JPEGMAFIA as we think we know him; wild and confusing, but with maybe just a little more clarity emerging

After Scaring The Hoes with Danny Brown last year, one of modern rap’s premier experimentalists returns with perhaps his most accessible album to date. Now, he’s hardly gone and made a pop-rap album, there’s still all the hallmarks of his frenzied production style. Peggy’s music has always felt like a reflection of the social media age; a relentless assault of disparate stimulants all fighting for attention. And he can’t help but get caught up in the drama of it all; he’s typically confrontational; taking aim at online critics and fans alike.

As he addresses the likes of a mini beef with Freddie Gibbs and accusations of hypocrisy for his decision to work with Kanye earlier this year, his lyrics can cross over into overly defensive and self-indulgent. But there’s still plenty of thrills delivered in his trademark beat switches, as crunching hard rock clashes with throbbing bass beats, right into pitched-up soul smoothness. Those switches aren’t quite as manic as usual; the chaos is a little more controlled and it gives everything a little more room to breathe.

That really pays off in the album’s later stages as he turns his attentions inwards; checking himself for his terminally online habits and addressing his relationships with women and drugs. The self-reflection is mirrored with the album’s gentlest moments; touches of dream pop and psychedelia contrasting the earlier aggression.

The use of Wendy Rene’s After Laughter (otherwise recognisable as the backdrop to Wu-Tang’s Tearz), switched up in signature style, on Exmilitary feels symbolic of a subtle shift. This is still JPEGMAFIA in all his innovative and confounding glory, but there’s increasingly heavy hints of a more classic and, dare I say, mainstream sound emerging.

Rating:

Best tunes: SIN MIEDO, don’t rely on other men, either on or off the drugs, Don’t Put Anything On the Bible

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2 responses to “Album Review: JPEGMAFIA – I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU”

  1. Tommy Bowers avatar
    Tommy Bowers

    I’m unsure of how your rating system works, but I feel this album deserves more credit. For me personally, I feel this is Peggy’s most mainstream because the production feels tailored to his new found fan base. With the heavy rock inspiration, it felt like this was meant to played at a concert. Granted, a lot of his music sounds like it is too. But thats the thing, this album takes multiple sound shifts contrary to the heavy metal sound to a more introspective look at himself over mellow samples towards the last leg of the album.

    Zooming out, this album in my opinion on has not only his most grand, but cleanest production. The fact that its nearly all produced by him that makes it so remarkable. For those reasons, I think this album can be minimally a 8/10, and I feel with time, people will understand how great it is. I also think this album will act as a gateway for mainstream consumers to understand his sound as it acts as a passage way for the rest of his discography, which only gets more experimental the further back you go.

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    1. nofrillsreviews avatar
      nofrillsreviews

      The rating here basically translates to ‘recommended but not top tier’. The majority of albums I like get this rating. I can see why it might look slightly negative at first glance, but it is a positive review. I deliberately don’t do numbered scores, so hopefully people concentrate more on the actual review. I wouldn’t argue with an 8/10, it’s probably in my top 20-ish albums of the year.

      Agreed on the production. The only thing that particularly brings it down for me is the lyrics. It feels like half the album is him griping about petty online beefs. It does payoff later in the album where he’s more self-reflective, and I realise that being extremely online is kind of his thing, but it still borders on annoying.

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