Jpegmafia, EartH, live music review: ‘A sound that reveals new layers with each listen’
Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, aka Jpegmafia, has a way of walking that is unlike anybody else’s.
At EartH, he carries himself like a dancer, or perhaps a superhero, bouncing, leaping, and skipping across the stage in a pair of blue Muay Thai shorts.
His toned, tattooed chest is bare from the start. Why bother wearing clothes if they will soon be covered in sweat?
Peggy is as practical in his music as in his fashion choices.
He performs alone, with no DJ, no dancers, no smoke and mirrors – just two laptops and a memory stick.
The beats, on the other hand, are complex and impenetrable. This is the sort of music that reveals new layers at every listen.
But as scrambled as his production sounds, it is somehow still minimalistic.
As producer and frequent collaborator Kenny Beats told the BBC last year, the aim is to use “the least amount of sounds to make the most amount of noise and energy”.
The show included old favourites like ‘Real Nega’ and ‘Panic Emoji’, both from 2018’s Veteran.
For ‘Thug Tears’, a mob of teenagers formed a mosh pit, eventually holding the crowd-surfing rapper above their heads.
The setlist also revisited songs from last year’s All My Heroes Are Cornballs, an energetic though perhaps softer album than his previous ones.
“Ain’t no money in rap, it’s all retail – facts!” the crowd shouted while totting finger-guns during ‘Beta Male Strategies’ – a slightly cringe-inducing vision considering the audience was mostly young white males.
But teenagers have hearts, too.
‘Jesus Forgive Me, I’m A Thot’ led them into a sincere singalong as Jpegmafia serenaded them back with a crispy auto-tune.
He put his all into every word, including his body, with hip rolls and shoulder shimmies proving once again his powerful stage presence.
Halfway through the show, a fan pulled out a hair clipper and asked the rapper to shave his own head.
Of course, Peggy obliged, saying: “Now you have my hair!”
Besides being an impressive producer, rapper and performer, Peggy is also great at freestyle.
For someone who makes beats, he was surprisingly keen on rapping without instrumentals.
He also loves to sing, and the gig closed with an auto-tuned, acapella version of Carly Rae Jepsen’s pop hit ‘Call Me Maybe’.