When discussing artists who defy categorization, Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, alias JPEGMAFIA, is often front and center. His music blends biting social commentary, chaotic production that’s actually chaotic, and a stubborn refusal to fit neatly into any of hip hop’s existing molds.
When Veteran came out in 2018, teenage Timon didn’t know what to make of it. I had never encountered anyone rapping over beats that even approached the experimental nature of the productions on that record. If your favorite rapper merely thinks outside the box, JPEGMAFIA doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the box. If Lil B taught rappers they could rap over anything, Peggy is the student who took that lesson to heart and then a giant dump on the syllabus.
Now that I’ve dabbled in music criticism long enough to dissect artists out in the open, I like to think of Peggy as a vanguard of post rap, alongside acts like Injury Reserve and Death Grips. But with his growing reputation for anarchic live shows and a recent album, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, filled with abrasive guitar riffs and distorted samples, the question naturally arises: Could Peggy be considered a modern-day torchbearer for nu metal?
To explore this idea further, I caught JPEGMAFIA in the middle of his world tour, deep in the beating heart of Brussels. More than ever, today’s rappers rely on raw energy and unpredictability to ignite live crowds. Peggy absolutely delivered on that front.
Arriving without an opening act, his entrance was marked by thick fog and drawn-out, wailing psychedelic guitars. It didn’t take too long for that to irritate me, for I am a spoiled brat with zero patience.
“I’m not much of a yapper, so let’s get right into it”, declared a cowboy hat wearing enigma from behind the smoke curtain. “This song is called Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot”.
While it took a rather gloomy sounding Hendricks about five minutes to enter ground zero, the first few rows of people in the venue wasted no time pretending the floor is lava. Tracks like “BALD!” and “SIN MIEDO” were delivered with pounding force as Peggy effortlessly switched between performance mode and cool/mysterious mode. His beats have always sounded like he interned at Adult Swim and ran off with their soundboard collection, and to hear them live for the first time felt like staring directly into Peggy’s soul, no matter how many times he tried to make himself invisible on stage.
During fan favorites like “SCARING THE HOES” (Danny Brown was not present), the crowd pulled a decently sized mosh, channeling the same kind of controlled chaos seen at any good metal gig. Much like Slipknot or Limp Bizkit, JPEGMAFIA thrives on disruption—sonically and socially. And even though he’s never been branded as rage rap or trap metal, it still felt like I witnessed the heaviest kind of hip hop right there and then.
Hendricks paid tribute to his latest full-length by performing a whopping nine tracks from I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. Many longtime fans stated that, while they praise the album, they can’t help but notice JPEGMAFIA is slowly diverging from the carefree nature of Black Ben Carson and Veteran. According to them, those projects reflect a sound Peggy pursued during a period where he truly didn’t play by any rules whatsoever. Sure, ILDMLFY may sound a little less like Basquiat on the production side, but calling it merely "alternative rap with rock elements" feels reductive. I also can’t circle around the fact that I’m a heavy guitar guy, therefore I naturally gravitate more towards songs like “I scream this in the mirror before I interact with anyone” (an absolute treat to hear live, by the way). Of course, tracks like “JIHAD JOE” and “Vulgar Display of Power” wear their metal influences on their sleeves; the latter is a direct nod to the Pantera record.
Lyrically, Peggy is all about that anti-establishment ethos. On “Don’t Rely on Other Men,” he mercilessly calls out societal hypocrisy. Even when he leans into introspection on tracks like “either on or off the drugs,” the tension never fully subsides.
So, is JPEGMAFIA nu metal? If we define the genre strictly by its early 2000s tropes, then perhaps not. But if we consider nu metal’s essence as a rejection of genre constraints and a platform for visceral self-expression, then Peggy might just be one of its most compelling modern descendants. He’s like a dead internet version of nu metal, constantly redefining what hip-hop can be.
And perhaps it's time we rethink what nu metal can be too. Fortunately, a whole new generation is already taking care of that.
