“JPEGMAFIA rules — he produces harder beats than anyone and raps with flesh-eating venom for the evil, the hypocritical, and the competition.” – FADER
“ODB at his most formless would be an impossible model for most artists in any century. For JPEG, it’s just the starting point.” – Pitchfork
“JPEGMAFIA makes murky lo-fi rap into something exciting” – Stereogum
Baltimore rapper and producer JPEGMAFIA serves up a volatile yet utterly captivating performance of his track “Thug Tears” for A Colors Show. Nest HQ wrote of the performance: “Backed in magenta, Peggy unleashes his popular fury to the lone mic in the studio. His aggressive and practically hysterical show is laced with his one-and-only talent of literally making you hear his pain”.
2018 has been a breakout year for JPEGMAFIA. Since dropping his latest album Veteran in January – which has garnered nearly 10 million combined streams to date – and releasing Backstreet Boys “cover”‘Millennium Freestyle’ in July and “Puff Daddy” in November – JPEG has become one of the most well-reviewed critical breakouts this year, with praise from the likes of Pitchfork, The FADER, The LA Timesand Interview Magazine, among other tastemakers.
Born in New York to Jamaican parents, JPEG spent the bulk of his childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn (deeply rooted in West Indian culture and black pride) and most of his mid-teens in deep south rural Alabama, bouncing from place to place due to rough circumstances at home.
After graduating high school, JPEG joined the military, deploying to different parts of the world, meeting fellow artists and adding new elements to his producing and rapping repertoire. Now based in Los Angeles, JPEGMAFIA’s sound is dark but not without a humour that makes things even more uncomfortable. His role as villain or satirist, hood protector or nihilist is intentionally hard to put one’s finger on.
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