So says James Blake in a tongue-in-cheek teaser for JPEGMAFIA’s new album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs – the follow up to the rapper’s lauded 2018 record Veteran. Here’s some explaining of the joke for you, reader: it’s funny cos he does do all of those things well.

First thing you need to know about JPEGMAFIA is that he deals in discordance. When listening to the Baltimore rapper-cum-producer, forget typical song structures and hooks. Don’t expect sing-along ’woah’s’ – get comfortable being uncomfortable for a bit. Fans of his previous record, Veteran, will be accustom to this. But on All My Heroes Are Cornballs, Peggy’s process from production to release has been fresher and faster, and in turn the songs feel more raw, less tweaked with and the conflict he creates between the melody and rhythm hit harder.

On paper, the 18-track record seems a hefty listen but it’s Peggy’s shortest record to date and whittled down from nearly 100 tracks he had created. Its opener and lead single, “Jesus Forgive Me, I am A Thot” – aside from possessing one of the best track titles – is a chunky bit of bait, doused in marmite. Those who sink their teeth straight in will savour its jarring tang and everything there on in is less of a shock to the system. Over the two and a half minutes of the opener, things bounce between textbook Peggy flow into punchier bars and just as quickly into Gambino-esque falsetto.

Unlike other artists, however, the shifting of style in his vocal delivery isn’t the only stand out point for Peggy. His production isn’t merely a foundation – the beats are so multi-faceted they could stand alone impressively without any vocal contribution. From the more mellow “Grimy Waifu” to the glitchy title track “All My Heroes Are Cornballs” to the genuinely melodic “Thot Tactics”, as much thought has gone into the idiosyncrasy of the beat as it has the vocals. You could probably count on one hand the amount of rappers who are successfully producing the full package and executing it to this standard.

Taking a moment to focus on the lyrics, JPEGMAFIA talks plenty about the internet’s legacy: “When I die, my tombstone’s Twitter” and “smh no ASMR”. Pertinently, he addresses trolls on “Beta Male Strategies”: “Say what you said on Twitter right now / you only brave with a board and a mouse”. The “You think you know me” skit from WWE’s Edge’s entrance music is littered throughout and there’s a spattering of nods to iconic tracks gone by like TLC’s “No Scrubs” on “BasicBitchTearGas” and Wayne Wonder’s “No Letting Go” on “PRONE!”.

Through AMHAC, JPEGMAFIA has attempted to produce something so questionable, unique and conflicted in its elements, that on first glance, it’s uninviting and dissonant. This goes for the use of his close friends giving faux unfavourable comments about the record in the PR campaign too. Yet that friction he creates and the doubt at the front of your mind makes you concentrate more, breathe in every element and realise its undeniable quality.

JPEGMAFIA is an artist I admire more than personally cherish. He creates incredibly inventive music and has a production style that is both unique and highly innovative. Unless you don’t have an ear for experimental music, there’s really not much to dislike. However, I personally find it difficult to connect to such an erratic stream of consciousness, regardless of the flair on show, and All My Heroes Are Cornballs is no different. Objectively speaking, it’s not far from being a contemporary classic. Perhaps I just find myself grasping for something with a little more weight.

Nevertheless, I expect AMHAC will eventually become one of 2019’s most crucial releases. Tired trap beats comprise a good portion of modern hip-hop, and JPEGMAFIA puts many of his contemporaries to shame by squeezing hundreds of sketches and ideas into a 45-minute album. Better still, he somehow makes it cohesive. Upon listening, I visualise a musical prodigy making beats in a messy bedroom cluttered with clothes and empty packets of M&M’s. The prowess shines through. “Kenan vs Kel” is an early example of how freely he can jump between genres, and it certainly sets the tone for the whole experience. There’s a glaring sense of lunacy throughout. It’s as though JPEGMAFIA is snapping between multiple identities. I actually find the madnessquite soothing, though I’m not really sure how or why.

For all the experimental noise, it’s the lush R&B that really stands out. “Thot Tactics” and “Grimy Waifu” are dazzling yet delicate numbers that demonstrate how good JPEGMAFIA is at actually writing songs, and I wish there were more. On occasion, the vocal melodies are sublime. As already mentioned, the production is seriously inventive; sometimes jarring, but often very compelling. I imagine this is the type of originality that Bon Iver has tried [and failed] to achieve with his recent output, whereas there’s little doubt that AMHAC is a success. Whilst Veteran introduced JPEGMAFIA to the scene, this will likely be the defining moment to kickstart a prosperous passage of fortune.

7 out of 10

Favourite tracks // Thot Tactics ­­Grimy Waifu ­­Beta Male Strategies

Fred

For me listening to All My Heroes Are Cornballs feels a bit like attending a house party. It’s noisy, it’s vibey, there’s lots going on in a slightly reckless, unravelling way, and I wouldn’t mind terribly if I were somewhere else. Not that that’s a problem. If I don’t want to be there it probably means it’s a pretty good party.

There are certainly more commanding albums than this, but there’s a lot of good stuff rattling about. Askew hip hop has typically gone down well with us three, and this seems like a worthy member of the club. The instrumentals seldom settle for too long, but the production maintains a sense of order. Even at its most scatterbrained it sounds smart, and tracks like “Free the Frail” and “PTSD” are downright gorgeous.

There’s a good buzz about this record. It draws from so many samples and sounds and influences that I suppose it sounding a little odd was inevitable. When you can blend downright blubbery bass with skeletal percussion and make it click like this can, I’ll hold my tongue. The lasting impression is one of curiosity. It’s a good album to rummage through, for better or for worse.

7 out of 10

Favourite tracks // Free the Frail ­­Kenan vs. Kel ­­All My Heroes Are Cornballs

Andrew

JPEGMAFIA’s latest release is busy, to say the least. Hopping from moment to moment, sketch to skit, idea to mood, it’s hard to know where to start, as individual ‘tracks’ are often made up of two or three opposing sounds.

That means the first few listens can feel like watching TV with a channel flipper, as you catch segments that pique your interest before being hurried along to the next. But I’ve kept coming back to AMHAC. It’s erratic, distracted nature hides some great, longer-lasting points in the tracklist. “Grimey Waifu” is a perfect example, a smooth R&B head-nodder with a satisfying instrumental, which manages to employ the glitched, lo-fi aesthetic without annoying the hell out of me [quite the opposite in fact].

Individual tracks aside, there’s something about this album that makes for an easy, thoroughly enjoyable listen after that initial hurdle. Between the recurring blurry conversation that slides in between tracks, JPEGMAFIA rarely makes a misstep here, and at 45 minutes, even the lowlights in the tracklist have been and gone before they can become too wearisome.

If there are missteps, however, they’re likely in the latter half, and it’s the more uneven ride here that begins to limit the album. The heavily auto-tuned moments do little for me, though “Thot Tactics” is a definite highlight on the tracklist despite them. “Free The Frail”, which follows, is a brilliant downtempo roller that hits the spot before flipping over to moments of beautiful vocal harmony. From that point onwards there are points of interest [Vaporwave redux of TLC’s “No Scrubs” anyone?], but it’s not until closer “Papi I Missed U” that I sit up and listen again. Making for an exceptional parting shot, this feels like one of the most fully-formed tracks on the record and it’s one I’ve returned to a lot on its own. With a great vocal and a simmering instrumental, it is a track I’m most likely to revisit out of everything on AMHAC.

This is more patchwork than record a lot of the time. Scattergunning genuinely interesting material, I will certainly be returning to it and will continue to keep an eye out for more. But with its chaotic mood changes and rocky road home, it misses out on being truly outstanding.

What is the concept of all my heroes are cornballs?

“All My Heroes Are Cornballs'” is the perspective of disappointment of a person achieving what they've dreamed of. JPEGMAFIA raps and sings with the intent of having brutal honesty, he is not a good person or a bad person, just JPEGMAFIA.

How long is all my heroes are cornballs?

All My Heroes Are Cornballs - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › All_My_Heroes_Are_Cornballsnull

Who produced all my heroes are cornballs?

Album of the Year 2019

24: JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs. JPEGMAFIA is the Hip hop project of rapper/producer Barrington Hendricks.