JPEGMAFIA Has Confirmed We Live in the Era of Prog Rap

By George Fenton

Yeah I’m dubbing JPEGMAFIA a prog rapper. Take that to mean whatever you think it means, but to me the man’s genre blending capabilities deserve no other label. A little Danny Brown, a little emo, a little Hillary Duff. Mammoth collages of noisy production and dissonant beats colliding with one another. Peggy does it all. He’s latest effort, All My Heroes are Cornballs, only solidifies his progressive nature. (I should note just about every single person I’ve offered this genre label to has disapproved of it.) 

Photo courtesy of Sam Kiegel

On Tuesday, JPEGMAFIA brought his lush sonic array to Union Transfer in support of his latest release. Originally a show planned for First Unitarian Church, the event was moved to UT after Peggy’s massive surge in popularity since the release of Cornballs. A well deserved amount of attention as the record will definitely crack my top 5 for albums of the year. But while I really enjoy the chaotic production on his albums, I was concerned that 1.) the colossal amount of sound needing to be mixed wouldn’t translate well live, and 2.) his vocals may not hold up live as they do on the record considering he leans heavily into autotune. 

Pretty much right off the bat, JPEG made any concerns I had about his live set dissipate immediately. The mix was crystal clear, and his autotune was up lifting. His set began with his now iconic album opener “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot,” and as soon as the first lyric left his mouth, Peggy delivered every single line with a force I have never seen at a live show in my entire life. Charisma doesn’t begin to describe his stage presence. For a straight hour he made every word feel like a bomb going off, causing the entirety of Union Transfer to erupt into a mosh that would rival any metal show I’ve ever been to. 

Photo courtesy of Sam Kiegel

While Peggy mostly stuck to tracks from the latest record, he still dipped fan favorites from his second record Veteran, like “1539 N. Calvert” and, by fan request, his beloved track “I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies.” The charm he had over the crowd was apparent, and it seemed to be reciprocal as one fan threw Peggy their flannel only for JPEG to respond with “Man this ain’t no fucking Fananto flannel.” Or another audience member who screamed “I will literally pay you to spit in my mouth,” causing Peggy to cackle. 

Overall, as an audience member you can tell JPEGMAFIA is thankful. He’s thankful that all he gets to be up on stage the size of Union Transfer. He’s thankful that his hard work is finally paying off. And he’s thankful that he can present whatever form of himself he’d like to, only to have positivity given back. Peggy shows his thankfulness to the audience by giving them a set that’s well mixed, well performed, and alive with an energy that hangs over the room and sticks in your sweat, even as you leave the venue and are immersed in the coolness of the night air that only comes when leaving a show like JPEGMAFIA’s. 

Photo courtesy of Sam Kiegel

Or maybe I just like it when rappers yell their whole set.