Save for having an undeniably enjoyable experience, JPEGMAFIA’s performances deserve no presumptions. 

Prior to the release of his widely lauded album All My Heroes Are Cornballs in late 2019 or  even his breakout sophomore project Veteran at the beginning of 2018, JPEGMAFIA (nicknamed Peggy) had already cemented himself as an industry vanguard, with his overt disobedience of the motifs of the explicit mainstream being instrumental in the construction of his reputation as an artist whose next move was more or less incalculable. His earlier discography resembled more a berserk, bulldozed compilation of hip-hop sounds and tropes than anything of convention or orthodoxy, each album mainlined with a frenzied habit that has continued to bleed into both his current work and, as made evident by his high-octane show on Friday night, his live concerts. 

This past Friday, the venue at Emo’s Austin was subjected to the fervent energy brought along on Peggy’s promotional 2021 LP! Tour. While the direction of the show was often made to seem improvised or entirely shrouded in mystery, its unpredictable atmosphere was a happy surprise rather than a disappointment, unanimously welcomed by its guests with exceptional ardency. 

An opening set by Detroit-based rapper and mainstay member of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade collective Zelooperz launched the event into the controlled chaos that persisted heavily throughout the event, with invigorated recitals of his underground hit “Easter Sunday” (sans Earl Sweatshirt’s feature) and tracks from his 2021 project Van Goghs Left Ear such as “Each and Every Moment”, a song backed by a canorous orchestral instrumental sample from the classic He-Man theme that, when flipped, could easily be mistaken as being from a Super Smash Bros. or Final Fantasy game, and “Bash Bandicoon”, which features a prominent sample from the Crash Bandicoot theme. The latter earned both an encore and, in keeping with the erratic nature of the show, an unexpected appearance from Danny Brown himself, whose mere presence contributed to a direct escalation of impassioned hysteria among the sea of fans. Danny’s solo of the explosive 2013 trap beat-laced banger “Smokin & Drinkin” again threw the venue into tumult, finding expression in a period of hectic moshing. Even as the duo vacated the stage, the crowd remained lively, galvanized in an anticipatory state of excitement, though unsure of what to expect.

Around 9:40 PM, JPEGMAFIA took the stage, inciting an ecstatic roar among the audience. Drunkenly sashaying across the platform with a no-holds-barred flamboyance, Peggy seemed to have fully embraced his stylistic idiosyncrasies and manifested them in an animated live persona that was fully unleashed with the opening track, the floaty and melodic “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot”, the response to which was a fevered chant of “PEGGY! PEGGY! PEGGY!”. Immediately following were aggressive performances of the freshly-released, Anita-Baker-sample-heavy “HAZARD DUTY PAY!” and the sparky, tongue-in-cheek hair loss anthem “BALD!”, along with the debut of a dynamic unnamed song that stupefied the crowd, who, even in their lost footing, revelled in the realization that they may very well be some of the first to listen to the new material. 

The tenor of the show heightened further as Peggy belted out verses from his Kenny Beats collaboration “Puff Daddy” and Veteran standouts “1539 N. Calvert” and “Thug Tears”, with abative intervals containing softer tracks as “DD Form 214”, a stress-ridden and emotionally charged song featuring Baltimore singer Bobbi Rush, and “BasicBitchTearGas”, an idiomatically JPEGMAFIA-esque cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs”, often filling in intermediate spaces between the more riotous elements of the setlist. After another exclusive preview of an unreleased track, Peggy had his Carly Rae Jepsen moment - a particularly rare occasion that had eluded so many previous concertgoers until recently - in his buzzy, heavily-autotuned acapella cover of “Call Me Maybe” (which he had apologetically claimed to have lost the instrumental for), followed by a high-flown third unreleased song and BROCKHAMPTON’s “CHAIN ON”; by this point, the sporadicity of the set had established the Austin concert as being like no other - an especially unique experience for all in attendance.

Even as the event approached its end, the spirit of the crowd seemed only to grow stronger, with several members recklessly colliding into each other to the rhythms of “COVERED IN MONEY!”, “Baby I’m Bleeding”, and the collectively assumed finale “Free the Frail” - however, in yet another defiance of expectations, Peggy offered to close with one of two choices, both backing numbers from Veteran: “Macaulay Culkin” or “Rainbow Six”; the latter was, by an overwhelming majority, the victor, with its murky and threatening instrumental making for a vibrant conclusion to an already exhilarating show. 

By the time the floor had nearly cleared out, the frenetic horde of young admirers were left even more electrified than they were at their arrival, congregating near the merchandise booth and chirping eagerly, in awe of the unmistakably phenomenal affair that had just taken place. In a way, this was JPEGMAFIA’s mission statement - all his musical values culminating in an all-out helter-skelter of an exhibition, outlined by unbridled rebellion, exultation, and, as predicted, boundless entertainment. 

Photo Credit: Joey Quismorio