The experimental hip-hop veteran invigorated a crowd at MTELUS, highlighting the genius of his musical catalog.
JPEGMAFIA closed out the North American leg of his recent LAY DOWN MY LIFE tour with an electrifying show at MTELUS in Montreal.
As the crowd excitedly waited with their phone flashlights in the air, an ambient guitar melody drifted through the venue. It played for over three minutes, creating a long and patience-testing intro to the show. Fans began chanting “Peggy” before the rapper even hit the stage. He finally emerged from the darkness, rocking a matching black cowboy hat and trench coat lined with streamers.
“What up y’all? My name is JPEG-mother***ing-MAFIA,” was his first utterance of the night. The audience cheered unanimously, erupting into an even louder ovation as he launched into “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot.”
The rapper’s bold, pronounced delivery powered through the speakers, as did his auto-tuned singing on the same track. The rapper never let up, hitting every word and flow precisely as he shouted his lyrics, rapping at high speed. This was the case for the entire performance, which was done without any background vocals or backing track — making it all the more incredible.
The crowd was perfectly in sync with the artist, following his every lead: they waved their hands from side to side during “WHAT KIND OF RAPPIN’ IS THIS?,” chanted “f*** you, Peggy!” in a call-and-response during “1539 N. Calvert,” and went bar for bar on nearly every track, filling in sudden lyrical pauses in his delivery.
The audience brought brash rock-concert energy to abrasive tracks like “i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone.” The title track from SCARING THE HOES made for a standout moment — the best in its section of the show, according to JPEGMAFIA himself. Fans clapped along to its instrumental while opening up a floor-wide moshpit before allowing the chaos to unfold as the beat dropped. “Real N**a” doubled down on the mayhem, with a circle pit opening to the tune of the track’s tribal drums and unruly yelping from an Ol’ Dirty Bastard sample.
The variety in the artist’s catalog shone through the setlist, spanning his entire solo discography. The wide range of influences — from Brazilian funk to R&B to rock — made the show even more dynamic. One moment, the audience was crooning along to Peggy’s trademark cover of “Call Me Maybe.” By the next song, they were jumping along to the dance beat at the end of “SIN MIEDO,” creating a scene straight out of a nightclub, only to be in rock-and-roll mode for the next track. Regardless of the tone of the songs, the crowd was energetic and engaged during every single one.
“The production on the new album is catchy and has so much energy,” said fourth-year economics major Karl Kawaja. “The album was meant to be played live, as every song is such a headbanger. I expected the show to be intense and I got exactly what I wanted.”
The intricacies of JPEGMAFIA’s highly stimulating production style were crystal clear in the mix, from video game startup sounds to abrasive crashes and various blips. The sound system brought the best out of his production, with the various rock riffs on his new album roaring throughout the venue. The low ends resonated beautifully, with the sub-bass on “BALD!” feeling especially light and ethereal despite its intensity.
Draped like hip-hop’s lone ranger, JPEGMAFIA put on a spectacle that testified to his unparalleled excellence in his unique lane. The rapper’s live show emphasized the appeal and genius of his unique, experimental catalogue, whose wildness is undyingly brought to life by his cult fanbase.
