Music Reviews

A match made in heaven.

Yeah so this was kinda insane for me – Danny Brown historically is reponsible for a couple of my absolute favorite albums of all time (especially „Atrocity Exhibition“ which is basically a perfect record for me) and JPEGMAFIA slowely but surely also became one of my favorite MCs to come out of the last decade – what really sold me on him was his 2021 „LP!“ album, that one seriously is just out of this world. So when I heard that these two absolute powerhouses were collabing I was absolutely ecstatic and the singles only submitted this hype further.

However I would just like to get my biggest problem with this album straight out of the way and that is how much of actual contribution to this project is split between the two of them, because at the end of the day this is essentially just a JPEGMAFIA record with a Danny Brown feature on every track. I don’t think a single song on this project was produced by Danny at all – which is a shame since I this man’s beats are some of the strangest most out there and most hypnotic I’ve ever heard. Not to devalue JPEGMAFIA’s production, on the contrary if he excells in anything it’s definetly his production style which is like nobody else’s – but I really think Danny’s production would have only exceeded my liking of this record. Well it is what it is, either way let’s dissect this one a little bit, shall we?

The album opens up with energetic and in your face „Lean Beef Patty“ which features really heavy synths that feel like you’re getting beaten up by the music and I mean that in the most flattering way. The different random transitions and samples are exactly what you would expect from a JPEGMAFIA produced song, it feels very chaotic and out there and it serves as one hell of an opener. My only real gripe with this song is just that Danny is mixed rather… Weird? A little quiet? I don’t know but it doesn’t feel as natural as when JPEGMAFIA is on the beat which is a shame because his verse ain’t bad either but whatever, what can you do, it’s stil a banger regardless. Speaking of bangers the next song „Steppa Pig“ has a really similar vibe to the first song however Danny’s voice is mixed just miles better then it was on the previous one. Plus the longer runtime of this one makes it a much more impactful experience – the production is really glitched and all over the place and you are just never bored. I especially enjoy everytime the main synths hit, JPEGMAFIA is just an absolute beast with the synths on this album. The constant switching up of the instrumentals is really ADHD-inducing but it sounds amazing so who cares. It really feels like 3 different songs mixed into one. Anyways after that is the title track „SCARING THE HOES“ which is like the definition of something that REALLY shouldn’t work on paper but it somehow just does – the clapping beat mixed with what I’m assuming is like a cello of sorts, I mean just reading this without hearing the song you have to say that just doesn’t mash together and yet JPEG once again manages to somehow pull it off. He pulls it off so well in fact that this remains as one of my favorites on the album – I just can’t get enough of how different it sounds. And man when the actual drums and then the bass kick in, it just transports you onto another plane of existence. It’s just so goofy yet it goes so hard, words can’t do the mix on this justice, you just have to hear it for yourself. Next up is the song „Garbage Pale Kids“ which features some realy crazy sampling and a really clunky beat, I honestly wasn’t really feeling this one on my first listen but I’ve grown to appreciate it a bit more. It’s once again very different in a very different way than the other songs are different and not every experiment on this album is as effective to me as others are, however they are all still very well produced and realised so. Also the electric guitar at the end of the song is really what makes this one click for me, like it just comes completely out of nowhere but it wraps up the song really nicely. After this we have another really sample-heavy song with „Fenatyl Tester“ and this one feels especially mysterious. I enjoy the sampling on this one waaaay more, the sampled female voice just sounds absolutely heavenly and Danny Brown goes completely crazy over it. This one is so good that even the hoes have to like it, enough said. Next up is the song „Burfict!“ and this one is THE hype song of this album. The trumpets are probably the best thing that’s touched my ears the whole year and even though the beat isn’t maybe as crazy and out there as some of the others on this album, it’s definetly the hardest and the most infectious. My only problem with this song is just how short it is, this one really could have profited more from a longer runtime. After that we have the double song „Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters“, the first one featuring only Danny Brown and even though I’m not the biggest fan of the beat on this first part and honestly the whole song, Danny really hold his own and carries his part so heavily to the point where it frankly makes up for it. JPEG’s part isn’t bad either, just kinda forgetable, I think my favortie part of the song production-wise is more the really cool transition between the two beats more than the beats themselves. However in terms of beats the next song „Orange Juice Jones“ more than makes up for it which correct me if I’m wrong but is that a fricking Michael Jackson sample I’m hearing? Well either way it sounds out of this world and even though the mix is a bit muddy here, it’s still one of the best beats on the entire album. Danny’s verse is also really good here. Following that we have the track „Kingdom Hearts Key“ another absolute sampling giant – I don’t know the origin of the sample here but it’s probably one of the best on the album (once again). I know this has to be a little tiring hearing this about quite literally every other song on this album, but it really is like that. This song especially honestly, the more I think about it, this beat is probably the most smoothest, most clean and most angelic on the entire project, it doesn’t even feel real. After that is the song „God Loves You“ which features some heavy gospell samples that just go super hard, like this song alone puts basically all Kanye’s gospell songs to shame. I really like the drums on this one aswell, they sounds super crisp and go surprisingly well with the gospell elements. After that we have the short almost interlude-like „Run The Jewels“ which start REALLY promising like the trumpet is super clean and sounds fantastic, however the song then transitions into this spacey almost 80s like beat and it’s over before it can even start – this is definetly the most confusing song on the album, even after hearing this album like a million times over I still can’t give my final verdict on this one. I mean I guess I’m glad it’s on the album you know but not much would honestly change without it, it doesn’t ruin the album but it doesn’t really bring anything to it that much either, it just sort of exists, it has some elements I like but that’s about it. The song „Jack Harlow Combo Meal“ starts of kind like a hotel-lobby-music-interlude-thing before the song just sort of comes and goes into like a million different directions and doesn’t stay at one idea for more than like 5 seconds and as a result this one really feels kinda empty by the time the song ends. „HOE (Heaven on Earth)“ honestly also sort of exists? Like I like the song it has some really cool elements to it, the gospell snippets are really nice, but the beat feels sort of weak to me compared to the earlier songs even though the transition at the end is kinda nice and it makes sense considering this is the second to last song on the record, you kinda want things to calm down a bit before the finnishing track. I don’t know, the final leg of this album just isn’t AS exciting to me as the earlier songs are. Fortunately the album at least finnishes on a strong note with „Where Ya Get Your Coke From?“ which feels like the perfect closer for this album – there is a constant shift between a simple beat consisting of literally just two sticks smashing against each other and an absolute explosion of noise and color, it sounds almost Death Grips-like and I find the contrast between the two very fitting for this album.

So yeah, as to be expected with two artisits like this collaborating, this turned out pretty great. There are some weird mixes here and there I’m not crazy about, I kinda wish Danny Brown had a bit more presence on this album and yeah, the final couple of songs feel almost improvised to me at points, but those are all just small nitpicks that ultimately don’t lower my enjoyment of this album as a whole. A really spectacular record for both artists that shows great potential for future releases between the two of them (if we’re lucky).

-favorite tracks: Lean Beef Patty, Steppa Pig, SCARING THE HOES, Garbage Pale Kids, Fenatyl Tester, Burfict!, Orange Juice Jones, Kingdom Hearts Key, God Loves You, parts of Jack Harlow Combo Meal, parts of Where Ya Get Your Coke From?

-least favorite tracks: Run The Jewels, first leg of HOE (Heaven on Earth), parts of Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters

Light 9/10