JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES

I am such a loser…

After the success of LP!, JPEGMAFIA sort of went away from the spotlight throughout 2022 after he dropped his former label. Don’t get me wrong, there was enough good music for me to pass the time, as The Forever Story, NO THANK YOU, and Ants From Up There quickly became some of my new all-time favorites. But there was still a part of me yearning and hoping for some new material from Peggy. LP! in my eyes is his best work to date, as his incredible knack for hooks and insane production skills quickly made this album my favorite of this decade so far. I needed more.

The same can be said about Danny Brown, as Atrocity Exhibition blew my mind when I first listened to it in 2018. I quickly became a huge fan of his work, but after the release of uknowhatimsayin? in 2019, he also went into hiding. I started to forget about his greatness as an artist during this period, and I am still waiting for Quaranta, an album he announced almost a YEAR ago now.

So when in earlier this month a snippet of new material with Danny and Peggy on it was played on the Danny Brown Show with them also announcing the title of their upcoming COLLAB album, to put it simply I was shitting myself. Two of my favorite artists getting together to work on a WHOLE ALBUM?!? And all of the production would be done by Peggy himself???? I was sold. I immediately bought the vinyl (for $54 btw, that alone will scare some hoes) and I waited patiently for each day to pass until now.

And honestly, now that the album is out, it’s safe to say that SCARING THE HOES is a fucking experimental hip hop classic. It’s everything I love about the genre, these two artists and more.

To start, this album’s pacing is absolutely fantastic. Each track flows into the next seamlessly, and as a whole experience it flies by. It’s like a 36 minute long roller coaster of sound, as the listener just gets sent through insane thrills without wasting any time whatsoever. The listener is constantly stimulated, and each track feels completely different from the next. I think the way Peggy and Danny are able to fit so much action into such a short runtime is extremely commendable, and I never feel drained from the experience as a whole.

As for the production, JPEGMAFIA fucking does it again!!! The beat choices on this album are so refreshing and fun in the field of experimental hip-hop, and on this album Peggy is really shows off his expertise. Tracks like the opener and leading single ‘Lean Beef Patty’ just blow me away with how Peggy is able to blend drum and bass work, trap, and synthporn seamlessly in less than 2 minutes. This level of eccentricity is seen all throughout this album, as Peggy is able to go from sampling smooth pianos on the hilariously titled ‘Jack Harlow Combo Meal’, to tracks like ‘Steppa Pig’ where Peggy fuses dubstep, trap, and experimental hip hop styles of production to create a true ear worm. Peggy is also able to blend his and Danny’s typical production styles throughout this project, as ‘Fentanyl Tester’ and ‘Orange Juice Jones’ sound like off-kiltered extras off of Atrocity Exhibition or XXX, while tracks like ‘Burfict!’ remind me a lot of the highs off of LP! Literally every song is fucking fire when it comes to the beat choices, but perhaps my favorite production is found on ‘Garbage Pale Kids’, where Peggy samples a tribal chant with pounding bass drums to create simply one of the best “horror core” beats I’ve ever heard.

The rapping on here is fantastic as well. At this point in their careers, Danny and Peggy have just mastered their craft, so SCARING THE HOES more just feels like the two messing around and having a ton of fun in the process. The two are spread out evenly throughout the tracklist, as songs like ’Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters’ literally have two beat sections dedicated to each artist. These two are so good at crafting hilarious one liners it’s insane! A standout for me specifically is when Danny says “If you on your period, call me Moses, ‘Cause I'm about to split that red sea” on the track God Loves You, where in his verse he ties a lot of amusing references to religions when detailing how he wants to have sex with a girl. Peggy has his fair share of one-liners as well, as bars like “Feel like Ezra when I'm on the scene” on ‘Kingdom Hearts Key’ just cracks me up. Not to mention, their flows and cadences are incredible, as the two are able to maneuver in the pockets of these tracks with ease.

The main problem I have noticed many other people get upset about is the album’s mixing, and honestly, I think it’s perfectly fine. With how energetic and fun SCARING THE HOES is I honestly was never really bothered by it, as I was just able to get lost in the sound. On that note, I think the main reason I love this album so much is simply due to how fun it is. Every year, there is an album that I always come back to as a mood-booster of sorts. In 2020, during the darkest corners of quarantine, that album was Playboi Cart’s Die Lit. In 2021, these mood-boosting albums were CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST and LP!. In the following year, that album was The Forever Story. And looking ahead into the future, I think SCARING THE HOES is going to fulfill that role of being a source of pleasure during a very pivotal year in my life. Thank you Peggy and Danny, I’ll be scaring the hoes with this one for a good while (even if I have no hoes🤓).

Best tracks: Lean Beef Patty, Steppa Pig, SCARING THE HOES*, Garbage Pale Kids*, Fentanyl Tester, Burfict!*, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters*, Kingdom Hearts Key*, God Loves You, Jack Harlow Combo Meal, HOE (Heaven on Earth), Where Ya Get Ya Coke From?

Least fav: n/a