JPEGMAFIA has reached new heights in the past year, breaking rules and conventions the whole way through. His 2019 album All My Heros Are Cornballs, jumps all over the hip hop spectrum, from distorted loops and autotuned verses to electronica dance beats and tender lofi melodies.
Vegyn is playful in his beat compositions, making electronic dance music that’s sweet and dark at the same time. His album Only Diamonds Cut Diamonds, also released late last year, is somehow both dreamy and glitchy. JPEGMAFIA is the only featured artist on the album, but I expect that there will be more voices in the hip hop world that will want in on his sound.
Both artists break rules in their quiet or not-so-quiet ways. Vegyn is an experimental electronica producer, and JPEGMAFIA is an AirForce veteran who crafts provocative raps to mosh to. Put the two together, and you get something that's alarming but strangely calming. The whispery voice samples and gentle pings of Vegyn’s beat behind JPEGMAFIA’s guttural rap lyrics makes for an oddly beautiful pairing that’s rhythmic and intimate.
What I love about Vegyn’s samples is that they feel familiar. They’re conversational but blend in so well with the alien, space age sound. In the first half, Nauseous, JPEG raps about being a stalker and Twitter trolls, and the samples in the second half, Devilish, talk about consent.
You ain't a shooter, bitch, that's fuckin'-
Talkin' shit on Twitter, bitch, what you accomplish?
Nothin'
. . .
Like, shit like that, there should be some sort of a rule
Unless there's like, like, yeah, like, like, inability to consent, like, contest that decision.
The song melts away with a haunting and distorted string melody, and what sounds like someone looking for their keys and unlocking a door.
You can learn more about Vegyn here:
You can learn more about JPEGMAFIA here:
About The Curator - Abby Yaeger
Abby Yaeger always keeps an eye out for the weird and the wonderful. As a journalism student in Montreal, she walks whenever she can, usually without any specific destination in mind. Weather permitting, she’ll sometimes stop and sketch, or just sit and watch the people that pass by. As a writer, she hopes to support artists and creatives who see the world for the messy, strange, and wonderful place that it is.