JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown: Scaring The Hoes (Album Review) Vol.1 Review

Two strange yet ingenious worlds collide on JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown’s new album, Scaring the hoes Vol.1, showing brilliance in unpredictability.

If the rap community had its fortune teller, they’d probably tell you that this was a collision course pretty much bound to happen. With Danny Brown recently getting more and more popular in the podcasting space, through his podcast The Danny Brown Show, it was inevitable that he would eventually butt heads with the cult-followed, internet-inspired rapper JPEGMAFIA. What wasn’t expected however is how good the album has turned out to be.

The album’s first track, Lean Beef Patty, instantly throws you in the deep end with a sample of Ginuwine’s I Need a Girl, followed by infectious maximalist production. From then on, the song implements subtle changes more times than you can count.

I’m glad to say that the rest of the album follows suit in this immersive unpredictability. Just when you think the album might be getting a little too overbearing, the duo hit you with a song like Kingdom Hearts Key and gives you a whole different pool to swim in.

My personal favorite track, however, and trust me it’s not an easy choice, is Fentanyl Tester, a song that somehow manages to merge Rob Base, Kelis, and an 8-bit video game all into an irresistibly catchy beat. The track also features the best chemistry between the two, Peggy gets back into his Veteran bag, and Danny Brown fits perfectly with his off-kilter, jumpy flow.

The pair have very few flaws on this album and have a chemistry that makes you question why they didn’t collaborate sooner. Danny thrives in the madness of the production with JPEGMAFIA having sampled everything that isn’t blocked by a firewall (how the hell do you sample a Nintendo commercial from 1983?).

In an industry driven by the zeitgeist, Peggy and Danny stand out and pave their lane out of internet jokes and old-model MPCs. To new fans of Peggy this album might be one of his more accessible releases, to returning fans it’s pretty much flawless.

Score/Outstanding: surreal and simply genius, JPEGMAFIA, and Danny Brown strike digital gold with their new project

[I rank albums on a scale of: Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, Outstanding]

Written by Jake Campbell

Jakejcampbell123@gmail.com