Breaking Down JPEGMafia’s “LP!”

 Melting (rather than burning) bridges in time and memory “LP!” becomes a collection of experiences packaged as songs, as intangible as the freedom, agency, and success they pursue. With “a whole different style in [his] other hand” ("KISSY FACE EMOJI!"), the pixel-pusher lives up to his name, juxtaposing sounds of softness and longing against a disposition of aggression and (earned) arrogance.

In an effort, not to make himself palatable to larger audiences (which has never been of importance to the Confederate-flag-donning social deviant), but to distill his craft and break free from the clutches of industry commodity, “LP!” is a testament to the ingenuity, levity, and idiosyncrasy which have made the genre-breaking rapper so salient throughout his stint in the music scene.

Check out our exclusive interview with Peggy below.

Happy Belated, how’d you celebrate?

I was on at a show in Atlanta and me and my wrestling homie put this guy through a table on stage. It was one of my homies. It was like, staged and everything. You know, but it was really fun. I really, It just really wet my whistle to put a grown-ass white man through a table. No idea why, specifically, it’s just one of those dude ideas that happens when a bunch of dudes get in a room and come up with something stupid, it’s just like Man Energy. But, yeah, that's how I spent my birthday.

Tell me a bit about the thought process behind the online vs offline versions of LP!

So the deployment point was, you know, being on a label, there are certain things you can't do. Like, I couldn't clear certain samples. But we live in a day and age now where "Piss Pampered" by Playboy Cardi charted, and it's not even a real song yet. So I just thought of it like that. I was like, even if I can't clear this, I wanted people to hear it. And it's like, in its full form, how I originally intended, because oftentimes, that happens to artists, and they have to just kind of, like put it out anyway, and nothing gets explained. And it's just like, you know, I just didn't want people to think that the version of streaming was my fully formed like vision, because my personal vision would not be to put three songs in there, that were already out. My full vision was the offline one. So for the hardcore fans, they can listen to that if they want. And the version online is comparable, but like the if you want to see the true one, you know what I mean, just for the nerds, it's there. It’s out there if you want to go get it.

So how did you go about putting together this album?

I first started making the album like last year after my previous album, which was All My Heroes Are Cornballs. And I, I don't know, I was so stressed. And in such a bad mood for the last two years, I've just been in such a negative ass headspace. And it was really hard to make music to be honest. Like, and this is the, I think this is the anxiety that you can hear in it. And I was just, but the entire time I was stressed, I was just listening to like, the most mainstream music possible. Like I don't really know why, but that's just what I was listening to. I was listening to nothing but pop music and like, pop-rap. And just, I was just, I'm just fascinated by pop music. I like to harness that energy in an underground way. I think it yields really funny results. So that's kind of where I was started with that, like, um, so some of the samples are kind of right on the nose, like, like Britney Spears, “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and shit like that. So like, yeah, it kind of began from that. I wanted to kind of make an actual pop-rap album, even if it doesn't really sound like that. But yeah, my intention was to make it more accessible. Make me more accessible to the average person, but still keep the core of me intact.

Let’s talk about "THOT’S PRAYER!" That was insane. It felt like listening to Britney Spears in a post-apocalyptic circus.

Shit. Um, I have covered that song a couple of times over the course of my life. Because it's just never really lost this flavor to me. I don't know what it is, but I really find a lot of pop music from that era, the lyrics to be really dark as hell. Or like, if you just take them outside of their context, they sound depressing. So I think that's kind of where I was going with it. Because like, when you read those lyrics on paper: “My loneliness is killing me inside. I must confess.” It sounds like someone's really fucking sad, but when you hear the song it’s upbeat, so I wanted to kind of channel it in the way that it made me feel. So that's like when I hear it. That's kind of how I feel about it. So yeah, I just funneled a Britney Spears through my weird lens, basically. And I really appreciate her because she cleared it. We just sent it in to get it cleared like, not too long ago, actually. And yeah, I really appreciate her for that because she's such a huge artist, and she doesn't have to pay me any attention at all, but she still took time to clear that for me. So like I definitely got to give her a shout-out for that Max Martin and all those guys too.

Are there any “huge artists” you’ve gotten to meet or interact with in your career?

I think a great moment in my career was meeting Björk. I met her at a party in London, after her show. And she, um, she was playing my music. Just crazy.

Björk?! Ok stop. Set the scene.

I walk into the club and there was just playing 1539 in there. And then, like, Björk just walked up and I was just like—it's, it's like Björk in my face. Even thinking back to it now it's crazy. That is definitely one of my top moments in my career. I can't believe I actually met her in real life. But yeah.

She kind of just floated up to me was like:

[in a whispered falsetto] “Hey, you want to,” she's just like, “you wanna?”

Wait what the fuck did she ask me? She was talking to me, like, she's like:

[in the voice again] “You want a drink?” or something.

But just talking like, so normal. I don't know. I thought she was gonna, like, speak to me in code or something. I don't know what I was expecting. Like, she just came up to me like you want a drink, you know, you want to dance? It was just cool. It was just very normal and chill. And yeah, I have a lot of respect for her, one of my idols.

What are some career milestones you’ve hit or still want to achieve?

One milestone I really wanted to hit is you know, having control of everything I'm doing, which I have now. I'm free to do whatever I please. I feel like I did jail time in the music industry. I was in the music industry for four years. And now I'm just, ready to be outside and do whatever I want again. For me, owning my music, and being in control of what I can do at the age of what, 31 whatever. I think that that's the biggest milestone I could probably reach because I know legends that died and don't own anything.

Where do you feel you are in your career now?

I don't know. I'm just, I'm calming down. I am appreciative of anybody supporting me and, just like, caring about what I'm doing. Because I know, I'm not the most likable person. And I'm probably difficult to deal with in real life sometimes. But, you know, one thing everyone knows about me is that I stand on what I say. And I'm not backing down from anybody at all. So when I'm when I'm with you, I'm completely with you and will defend you to the death. I'm just that kind of guy. But also I’m just like, crazy as shit. But I guess maybe you need that sometimes.

Do you consider yourself a hero in some respects, and/or a cornball in others?

I'm both, yes. I think for some kids, and I mean specifically the kids that don't want to be some mainstream rapper. Their intentions are just to make music and whatever comes from that, the pure ones like that. And the weirdos and the people that really feel like genuine outcasts. I want to appeal to them because like, I really have walked through life being literally like—I don't even know what it is—just like chastised and dehumanized because of me being myself literally, just existing in front of some people is enough to just make them flip out. So I want to be, for the kid that feels like that. I'm sure like maybe they look at me in a certain way, and I look right back at them with the kinship.

Now, I have to ask you your own question… "ARE U HAPPY?"

I'm happy about the album coming out. That’s a good thing you asked actually because I'm actually really happy about people, or at least my fans, really liking the album. Because I really, I was very depressed about releasing it at first. I wasn't sure how people would receive it. If other people outside of my fans are like “aw this shit sucks.” They always were gonna say that, because they just want another Bruno Mars record or something like that. I don't make music for that. So I get why somebody like that would say that, but when my fans say it hurts. And I knew that I had all these songs and stuff that couldn't get cleared. It made me very depressed because I live and die by my work. So it's, you know, I'm just happy to put something out.

But I'm gonna be honest with you. Um, in general, I'm a pretty negative person. I won't lie. You know, I kind of have to be in my field. But right now, for the first time in a long time, I can definitely say that I feel very good. I feel very happy. For sure.