A collaboration between JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown was only a matter of time. They’re both oddball rappers working at the fringes of hip-hop, industrial, and dance music, barreling through songs with caustic wit and landing enough pop culture references to short-circuit a Genius moderator. In a recent episode of his podcast, Brown admitted that the first time he heard a JPEG song, he thought Peggy was “gonna take my job.” Now the pair have a full-length on the way, cheekily titled Scaring the Hoes. On “Lean Beef Patty,” its fitness-influencer-referencing lead single, the duo lets loose over a twitchy JPEG beat featuring a chipmunk’d sample of P. Diddy’s “I Need a Girl, Pt. 2” that melts into blaring synths and bass bombs. “First of all, fuck Elon Musk,” JPEG announces, coming in hot by calling out the billionaire’s Twitter controversies: the exorbitant $8/month verification subscription fee, the inconsistent approach to free speech. Brown’s verse is less specific but no less energetic, stunting that he’s “spittin’ fast like Busta.” Though JPEG is clearly running point here—he produced the track and has the stronger and more audible verse —their styles interlock like Joy-Cons sliding onto a Nintendo Switch.
