Album Review: JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES
The existence of a project like SCARING THE HOES as anything other than a hypothetical almost seems too good to be true: a too-fitting collaboration between two rappers whose individual brands of absurdity share much common ground despite their vastly different origin stories. The eclectically talented JPEGMAFIA (often shortened to ‘Peggy’ by his fans) rose to a startling level of underground popularity in the latter half of the 2010s, and has since been on an incredibly productive and prolific streak up to and including his highly acclaimed release LP! in the last quarter of 2021. Danny Brown’s career, meanwhile, took off back in 2011 after releasing one of that year’s most celebrated albums in XXX, yet the Detroit rapper hasn’t put out a new project since 2019’s uknowwhatimsayin¿, with the long-teased followup Quaranta seemingly stuck in artistic limbo (or possibly in major label hell). In addition to being two of the funniest rappers alive via Danny’s penchant for bawdiness and Peggy’s topical wit, their careers are individually yet inextricably connected to the zeitgeist of online music discussion; the record’s title is itself a reference to an overused Internet meme regarding experimental music that has no doubt been levied at both rappers innumerable times. It’s an effective banner for the duo to rally behind (even though it’s kinda true), as SCARING THE HOES, while no doubt an intimidating listen for those unfamiliar with JPEGMAFIA’s production style, is in large part a statement about the perception of Danny and Peggy’s art, and their rejection of the unflattering box their audiences are often too willing to put them in. Still, for as well as the final product plays at times to the strengths of the former’s unlikely charisma and the latter’s multifarious ingenuity, SCARING THE HOES is too often lacking in any sort of cohesion between the many assets it has readily on hand; that so much of the record could easily be mistaken for JPEGMAFIA B-sides with Danny Brown verses sprinkled casually throughout is perhaps a harsh way to sum up the album, yet not an entirely inaccurate one.
It’s surreal to have to levy this criticism against Danny Brown, known for both his tendency to gravitate towards strange, discordant instrumentals and his uncanny ability to always sound comfortable rapping on them, but so many of JPEGMAFIA’s beats feel like they’re actively fighting against the performances layered overtop (or underneath, in Danny’s case). It’s up for debate whether Danny’s nasal voice is a poor match for maximal electronics crowded with vocal samples or if he’s just been buried too far down in the mix, but either way his contributions clash regrettably with the synthetic anarchy of tracks like Garbage Pale Kids and Steppa Pig in a way that Peggy’s aggressive, almost yelled vocals simply do not. The latter cut also suffers due to Danny’s microphone being replaced with what sounds like a tin can on a string; much has been made of the supposedly flawed mixing on SCARING THE HOES, and while the ad hoc recording style is no doubt a deliberate choice in line with JPEGMAFIA’s production ethos, the result is a record where one rapper often sounds demonstrably worse than the other for no other reason than self-imposed technical restrictions. On a cut as purposefully outlandish as the title track, the lo-fi vocals are almost fitting when experienced alongside the song’s unhinged saxophone wailing and general insanity, but for much of the record this misguided commitment to self-discipline is a noticeable hindrance.
The brilliance that was so recently responsible for all-time singles like HAZARD DUTY PAY! is still undeniably present, even if the moments on SCARING THE HOES where everything coalesces effectively are far more rare than one would expect. As the most conventionally constructed track, Burfict! is an unsurprising highlight of confident horns and timpani underscoring one of Danny’s most effortlessly memorable hooks ever, only briefly (and suitably) relapsing into synthetic chaos when Peggy enters with signature aplomb: “Fuck what you heard, yeah I’m toxic/Rappers be calling the cops/Civilians thinking we opps/Bitch, the shit that I flash ain’t a prop”. Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters isn’t exactly a greater song than the sum of its two parts, especially given that the production on Danny’s opening half is basically just a prelude to the actual beat that Peggy gets to rap over, but between the former’s hilarity (“On my momma, I was broke like a promise/From a fat bitch saying no more McDonald’s”) and the latter’s charisma (“Uh, it’s Black AOC/No matter what they try say they can’t KO me”) the result is still a more than capable addition to the tracklist. The real stunner here, though, is Kingdom Hearts Key, endowed with a heavenly J-pop sample and manipulated with a telltale spark of ingenuity of the sort that only JPEGMAFIA can provide. Verses from Danny, Peggy, and noted rap wunderkind (and the album’s sole featured artist) redveil are all delivered with an impeccable sense of cadence and flow, perfectly tailored alongside the immaculate production to continue delivering euphoria even after dozens of repeat listens.
More often than not, however, the absence of this level of consideration and restraint leads to moments like the manic chiptune of Lean Beef Patty or the approachable jazz melodies of Jack Harlow Combo Meal, with intriguing samples and verses haphazardly drowned out by blown-out percussion and lo-fi (read: poorly recorded) vocals. Snippets of gospel music are (appropriately) crowding every aural inch of God Loves You; here Danny amps up the vulgarity of his punchlines to contrast the ample religious references throughout his verse, a commitment to crudeness that would be more notable if he hadn’t already one-upped himself over a decade ago. HOE (Heaven on Earth) molds Christian sanctity into a much more appealing package just a few tracks later, with verses a tinge less manic (and the closest to Danny’s soberly self-reflective side this album dares to get) encased in a front-to-back flex of JPEGMAFIA’s producing skills, complete with a skillfully manipulated gospel outro. After this and the abrasive yet forgettable Where Ya Get Ya Coke From, though, the album is already over; a whirlwind thirty-six minutes of wasted potential that never truly falters yet rarely lives up to the staggering expectations this team-up should elicit on paper. For better or worse, SCARING THE HOES is as its cover implies: an album of JPEGMAFIA’s inimitable artistry placed front and center, with Danny Brown inserted imperfectly to the side in ways that fail to make optimal use of his talents. Whether a (tenuously implied) sequel ever delivers on that initial promise is up in the air, but as far as the first volume goes, SCARING THE HOES is an album to be remembered for its highlights, and for two artists as talented as Danny and Peggy, those highlights are sadly all too few in number.
7/10
Favourite Tracks: Kingdom Hearts Key, HOE (Heaven on Earth), Burfict!