The fifth official studio album by
JPEGMAFIA
appeared more than a year after
Scaring the Hoes
, his long-promised and extraordinarily well-received collaboration with
Danny Brown
.
I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
shares a lot of the sonic hallmarks common to
Peggy
's work, from abrasive, disjointed production to troll-ish lyrics and song titles. He leans a lot more into rock influences on this album, with metal guitars blaring on several tracks, usually popping up in well-timed bursts and providing a welcome release. "SIN MIEDO" mashes up several different styles -- ghetto house, blog-house, indie sleaze (thanks to recurring chords which clearly resemble
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
' "Heads Will Roll"), Jersey club, blown-out metal -- resulting in one of the rapper's most hyped-up, exciting tracks. Brazilian funk producer
DJ RaMeMes
co-produced the exhilarating "it's dark and hell is hot," which is tightly wound and has a high-BPM bounce to it. "New Black History" has synthy, industrial-tinged beats co-produced by
Flume
and effortless guest raps by
Vince Staples
Denzel Curry
cracks loads of hilarious, foul-mouthed insults and boasts on "JPEGULTRA!," a whirlwind of brash, psychedelic energy which ends up with a surprisingly lush final section. The remainder of the album contains some of
's most introspective material since 2013's infamous
The Ghost~Pop Tape
. Singer/songwriter
Buzzy Lee
, a previous collaborator, returns on "Don't Put Anything on the Bible," nearly getting the song to herself, and the drumless closing track "i recovered from this" features direct, confessional lyrics over gentle acoustic guitars, strings, and vocal harmonies.
's confrontational personality can be overbearing at times, especially to listeners who don't consider themselves to be chronically online, but his production is always stellar, and his sheer creativity is unparalleled.
is up there with
LP!
as the artist's most accessible work to date. ~ Paul Simpson