JPEGMAFIA

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JPEGMAFIA with radio host Natalie James

Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks (born October 22, 1989 in New York ), better known by his stage name JPEGMAFIA , JPEG or Peggy for short , is an American rapper and music producer . While his beats are characterized by an experimental production, his controversial lyrics are directed against political grievances, police violence and white supremacy .

Life

Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks was born in 1989 to Jamaican parents in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York . He grew up in East Flatbush under the influence of Caribbean culture and the Black Pride movement. When Hendricks was 13, his brother was shot and the family moved to Alabama , where he faced severe racism for the first time in his life . A racist argument earned him a brief jail term. At that time Hendricks, socialized with reggae, discovered rap music for himself. After high school , he joined the Air Force and was stationed in Louisiana . From there this activity took him to Japan , Germany , Kuwait and Iraq . In the crisis regions he spent his free time producing beats before retiring from the air force after four years of service. According to its own statement, the service reinforced its negative image of man.

Career

Hendricks made his first publications via Bandcamp - after he discovered sampling - in 2009 under the pseudonym Devon Hendryx . After completing his military service, he lived in Japan, where he recorded a mixtape called The Ghost ~ Pop Tape in 2013 , which caused a sensation in Tokyo . He then took on the artist name JPEGMAFIA for the first time , with the name ending MAFIA similar to the US prefix A $ AP showing membership of a collective.

In 2015 he returned to the United States and settled in Baltimore . After the death of the young African American Freddie Gray in police custody, the city rioted and JPEGMAFIA produced its angry Darkskin Manson EP within a week . In the years to come, Peggy , as he was called from then on, tried to work with as many artists as possible in order to make a name for himself in the DIY ethos scene. On February 15, 2016 he released his first studio album on the Deathbomb Arc label. The title Black Ben Carson is a dig at the black Republicans same name who denies his policy in the eyes of the rapper his origins. In the same year the EP The 2nd Amendment was created in collaboration with Freaky . The ironic track I Might Vote 4 Donald Trump in particular attracted attention and was later picked up by the playlist project 30 Days, 50 Songs .

In June 2017 he moved to Los Angeles . With the release of his second studio album, veteran he succeeded in 2018, the breakthrough. The album received mostly positive reviews, including from Pitchfork and the Los Angeles Times , and was included on several year-end lists. By November 2018, it had been streamed almost ten million times and won some celebrity fans like Hannibal Buress or Anthony Fantano . His first international tour, the "Reverse Christopher Columbus Tour" took him through Europe in 2018/19.

His third studio album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs , was released in September 2019 and reached number 105 on the Billboard 200 .

style

JPEGMAFIA is assigned to the genres Experimental Hip-Hop, Lo-Fi and Emo-Rap. His production with samples from computer games and field recordings is influenced by noise and industrial , especially Throbbing Gristle . Playing with sound elements such as noise and fractions brought him comparisons with Death Grips , which he rejects. Although he used the energy of the Californian trio, he could not do anything with the abstract texts. Instead, he sees himself within the SoundCloud rap spectrum. He names Ice Cube and his album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted as the greatest style and content role model , other rap influences are or were The Diplomats , Ghostface , Jay-Z , Lil Wayne , Nas and Ol 'Dirty Bastard . The energetic punk rock of the Bad Brains also serves as inspiration.

Despite the seriousness and harshness of his subjects, the rapper makes sure not to come across as a preacher . In addition, his lyrics do not lack a certain amount of anarcho-libertarian humor ( I Wipe My Ass With Confederate Flags , Libtard Anthem ), which makes his dark sound even more uncomfortable. Through his multifaceted role play as a villain, satirist , hood protector or nihilist , he intentionally makes his work elusive and tries to scare off casual listeners. The German Juice described him as a "political voice, smirking troll and brilliant experimental musician at the same time". His album cover for Darksin Manson , which shows his bare bottom wrapped in a Confederate flag , is the ultimate "Fuck You" of patriotic symbolic politics .

reception

Since his time in Baltimore, JPEGMAFIA has been causing controversy with its provocative texts. Shaped by his youth in Alabama, he raps against rednecks , alt-right and the forces of imperialism . Not infrequently he attacks prominent targets such as Ben Carson ( Black Ben Carson ) or Morrissey ( I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies ) directly. On the track Real Nega he used the term " crackers " for white people, which earned him accusations of reverse racism. Particularly controversial are the songs in which he denounces police violence against Afro-American fellow citizens. In #trussmidaddi he reacts to the attack on police officers in Dallas on July 7, 2016 with the lines "shout out to my nigga Micah Johnson down in Texas / he fucked them cops good / I can't wait for the next hit". To do this, he consciously uses the language that had previously emerged in private police e-mails and racist tweets from the Traditionalist Worker Party . More titles similar sentiments loud I Just Killed a cop Now I'm Horny or Cops Are the target . While in an interview he criticized the US gun culture as a whole and its supporters like the NRA and Donald Trump , he demanded that blacks should refer to the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution more often . Because of these and similar views that he conveys in his song lyrics, JPEGMAFIA is seen by many media as part of a counterculture ( contrarian ).

Chris Kelly from the Washington Post still attested the artist to have a unifying talent:

“For all the violence in his lyrics, music and performance, there is catharsis and even affection. JPEGMAFIA is a uniter, not a divider, bringing together millennials and Gen Zers, no matter race, gender or sexuality. "

“With all the violence in his lyrics, music and performance, there is catharsis and even affection. JPEGMAFIA is an association, not a divider, that brings Millennials and Gen Z together regardless of race, gender or sexuality. "

- Chris Kelly

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
All My Heroes Are Cornballs
  US 105 09/28/2019 (1 week)

Studio albums

  • 2016: Black Ben Carson
  • 2018: Veteran
  • 2019: All My Heroes Are Cornballs

Mixtapes and EPs

  • 2009: Dreamcast Summer Songs (as Devon Hendryx)
  • 2010: JoeChillWorld (as Devon Hendryx)
  • 2011: Generation Y (as Devon Hendryx)
  • 2012: The Rockwood Escape Plan (as Devon Hendryx)
  • 2013: The Ghost ~ Pop Tape (as Devon Hendryx)
  • 2015: Communist Slow Jams
  • 2015: Darkskin Manson EP
  • 2016: The 2nd Amendment (with Freaky)

Singles

  • 2016: Free Teanna (feat.Dyyo Faccina)
  • 2017: Man Purse
  • 2018: Does This Ski Mask Make Me Look Fat? (feat. Heno.)
  • 2018: Millennium Freestyle
  • 2018: Puff Daddy (feat. Kenny Beats)
  • 2019: The Who (feat. Eyas)
  • 2020: Soon!

Guest Posts

  • 2018: Vengeance ( Denzel Curry feat.JPEGMAFIA & ZillaKami)
  • 2019: Hate You ( Health feat.JPEGMAFIA)
  • 2019: How to Build a Relationship ( Flume feat.JPEGMAFIA)

Web links

Commons : JPEGMAFIA  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Open Space: JPEGMAFIA - Mass Appeal. Mass Appeal / YouTube , March 16, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Introducing JPEGMAFIA, Listen to New Track with Kenny Beats “Puff Daddy”. The Partae, November 8, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Lawrence Burney: JPEGMAFIA: On Channeling Anger, Making Music In Japan & Racial Tension. True Laurels, November 6, 2015, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Tom Breihan: JPEGMAFIA Makes Murky Lo-Fi Rap Into Something Exciting. Stereogum, February 11, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  5. ^ A b c d Mathis Raabe: JPEGMAFIA: "I believe that most people are inherently bad". Juice , November 30, 2018, accessed April 14, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Dreamcast Summer Songs. Devon Hendryx / Bandcamp , August 26, 2009, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b Who Is JPEGMAFIA? - Pigeons and Planes. Pigeons & Planes / YouTube , March 29, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b c Tom Breihan: JPEGMAFIA Makes Murky Lo-Fi Rap Into Something Exciting. Stereogum, February 11, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  9. ↑ a b c d Benj Salkind: “I Can Rap About Politics and Make it a Jiggy Song”: An Interview with JPEGMAFIA. Passion of the Weiss, March 7, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Alphonse Pierre: 10 Emo Rap Artists To Know. Hot New Hip Hop, June 24, 2018. Retrieved on April 13, 2019 (English).
  11. ↑ Wesley Case: Onetime Baltimore rapper JPEGMAFIA uses music to make a statement - and take on Trump. Los Angeles Times , September 6, 2017, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  12. ↑ a b Jordan Darville: JPEGMAFIA rules, and here's proof. The Fader, February 22, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Blake Gillespie: Radical Contrarian Rapper JPEGMafia On Gun Ownership, Trump And Flipping Rhetoric On Its Head. Paper, August 3, 2016, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Chris Kelly: JPEGMAFIA screams out love (and provocation) to fans at Songbyrd. The Washington Post , September 16, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  15. ↑ JPEGMafia in the US charts (Billboard)
personal data
SURNAME JPEGMAFIA
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hendricks, Barrington DeVaughn (real name); Hendryx, Devon; JPEG; Peggy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rapper and record producer
DATE OF BIRTH October 22, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Flatbush , New York , United States