Open Space: JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIA started producing when he was 14, but after he heard Ice Cube’s ’AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’ when he was 17, he realized there was a whole world of topics he wanted to rap about. And though old school Cube explains his political bent, it’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard who’s responsible for JPEG’s more far out approach to music. “I feel like ODB, before the internet existed, this n*gga was a genuine weird dude,“ he says. “He wasn’t doing it for clout or nothing, he was just weird naturally.“ JPEGMAFIA was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, but after a move to Alabama, he joined the military and was deployed around the world, including a tour in Iraq. But even in a war zone he was still making beats. Now back living in the United States, he’s using his rhymes to target people like Ben Carson, Morrissey, Bill Maher, and, of course, Donald Trump, who JPEG predicted would win the election. “I’ve never been so sad to be right about something,“ he says.