welcome to afropunk: jpegmafia

Every year, the AFROPUNK Festivals around the world welcome many new and young artists to its stages for the first time. This year, we decided to ask a few of them to introduce themselves to the AFROPUNK audience by answering some questions about who they are, where they come from, why they do what they do, and what brought them here.  This time around, it’s one of our favorite noisy hip-hop producers, JPEGMAFIA, who will be getting rowdy in Brooklyn in August.

Age:

28

Place of Birth and/or Residence:

Brooklyn, NY / Baltimore, MD

Short Description of What You Do:

Make the absolute worst possible music I can within a 2-year span.

Q: What are your favorite things about where you are from, and what are your favorite things about local black culture where you are from?

Well, that’s interesting, because I grew up around nothing but black people and we all had diverse opinions on things, were into different shit. Some of us were poor, some had money. I basically got to see a wide spectrum of an American citizen, but viewed strictly through other black people. Whereas, most other people experience it through whites. So, I guess what I like most about where I grew up in my early years is that, no matter what conditions I was in, at no point did I feel insecurity about my skin color or think about my race in a negative context from the people around me. That’s something I don’t think many black people in this country can say. I think that strong early foundation gave me confidence about myself that stayed with me my entire life.

Q: If there was one or two core thoughts/ideas that you want your music to convey, what are they?

No one likes niggas. There is a genuine disrespect for black people that I have found across every single culture I have ever interacted with. And old white people are the most insecure group of people on the planet. I would like to be respected as an artist. I do what I do for the valuation of the people. Within the spectrum of hip-hop, I want to be seen as a force, but I have to earn it. I want no shortcuts, no handouts, nothing. I want to earn my place in hip-hop through sheer hard work and talent. It’s like playing Uncharted online: when you kill someone, the person that died can see what all extra power-ups your were using. I used to use no power-ups on purpose, because I wanted the person I took down to know I did it with nothing more than pure skill.

Q: What is your most recent musical project? What separates it from your previous musical/creative projects?

It’s Veteran, and it separates itself from my previous work because my past work was often noisier. On my previous albums — like Black Ben Carson from 2016 — I harbored a lot of hate for a lot of people. With Veteran, I decided to let that hate out in a different way. I’m older, wiser and I try not let things upset me like that. Veteran differs because you see multiple emotions from me, not just anger.

Q: When did you first hear of AFROPUNK? or Do you have any firsthand AFROPUNK experiences of your own?

I heard of AFROPUNK in like 2007, and what I loved about it was it was a place for eccentric black people to go and feel free. Often, a black person is delegated by society to only be interesting if they’re living up to some stereotype that had been set for us. But there has never really been a place for the eccentric black people, until recently. AFROPUNK, I think, spearheaded this idea, and for that I am forever appreciative.

Q: What are you looking forward to most when you play at AFROPUNK?

Moshing with niggas.

Q: Anything else you want to say to the AFROPUNK audience as a way of introduction?

Kanye West doesn’t care about black people.

Catch JPEGMAFIA at AFROPUNK BROOKLYN 2018! Tickets available HERE.

Catch JPEGMAFIA at AFROPUNK Brooklyn 2018! Tickets available HERE.