JPEGMAFIA
26th July 2022
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Cameron Miller. Photography by Doug Peters.
“My name is JPEG motherfuckin Mafia, and I’m here to do some nasty shit to y’all tonight.”
As far as mission statements go, this was disarmingly straightforward, coming from the peddler of some of the most dense and experimental hip hop ever heard. This blunt declaration was delivered after a similarly no frills entrance to the Powerstation stage, the man of the hour simply striding out to no music or lights, but to rapturous cheers and chants of “Peg-gy! Peg-gy!” from the sold out crowd. The very first thing the Baltimore rapper did was show love to the front rows, slapping outstretched hands and greeting people eye to eye. This right away stripped the show of any fears of pretension – JPEGMAFIA is a critical darling and kind of a big deal, but he was here for the fans, to play some music and fuck us up.
An hour earlier, Auckland local FERBY got plenty of love from the crowd as well. She plays throbbing, dark tinged melodic trap, which is very much not my wheelhouse but which I was happy to nod my head to. Her breathy, murmured delivery sat nicely in the pocket, and was deceptively expressive. There’s a deadpan humour I like to Ferby laconically bopping around in large hoodie and shorts, delivering lines like “I’m gonna fuck your face, show you how to love my taste” not with WAP-esque braggadocio, but with a bored, sardonic slur. Plus the beats banged and the DJ had a Dark Souls “You Died” T shirt. The crowd loved it, and the enthusiastic reception as her set closed only set the anticipation building for JPEGMAFIA to finally join us.
Peggy wasted no time after his personable intro, launching into “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot” from 2019’s All My Heroes Are Cornballs. The sound was immediately impeccable, and continued to impress me throughout the show. A JPEGMAFIA type beat is no simple thing, and every glitchy click, tweet, pop, tap and shriek was captured perfectly. Quiet and subtle elements were not lost, and at the same time the huge bass on tracks like “Puff Daddy” shook the floor as it damn well should.
For all the complexity of the material though, this was no show for navel gazing. I was excited to see how the frenetic, confronting energy of the album material would translate live, and by the end of the show it felt like the albums could hardly compare. Peggy flung himself around the stage, denim jacket sleeves flailing, screaming and belting his lyrics, climbing over the front rows and getting in the face of the crowd. Never once did the chaos of the performance make him sloppy, each word bit off clearly and at savage volume. The crowd leapt and bounced and collided and sweated through song after song, stopping only to roar approval in between. Their ringleader ordered the lights cut and a circle pit opened up for the start of “Real N***” (Yes, I know how the song is spelled; this reviewer is white, in his 30s, and erring on the side of caution). Then he emerged from the darkness on top of the left speaker stack, screaming the refrain over the boiling sea of bodies. Fan favourite “Baby I’m Bleeding” was just as uproarious. Fans staggered out the sides of the pit throughout the show, sweating and gasping, and kind bottles of water were occasionally launched by our MC to people in need.
Wild as he was performing, between songs JPEGMAFIA was casual, relaxed and friendly with the crowd puffing with exertion as he checked his laptop and chatted. At one point he called an admission frankly admitting he needed to pee, and he teased the hip crowd for their beautiful heads of hair, before asking where his “bald bitches” were at as a segue into “BALD!” Towards the end of the night he was just as frank with his appreciation for his fans, speaking on how special it was to sell out his show on his first visit to New Zealand. It certainly felt special to us. Not just one of the best rap shows I’ve seen in years, JPEGMAFIA was unique. Damn, Peggy.
Were you there at the Powerstation to witness one of the most energetic rappers out there? Or have you seen JPEGMAFIA perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.
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