Veteran by JPEGMAFIA. Bandcamp Link: Veteran
Number 5 in the wire magazine Top 50 releases of 2018.
There were many American rap releases in 2018. There are a few elsewhere on this list.
Yet, the British underground music magazine chose to rank JPEGMAFIA’s Veteran highest.
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t particularly listen to a lot of music in the popular vein, so I’m probably as outside on this as the high falutin’ critics of the wire magazine.
So, what, for wire magazine, about Veteran makes it the most interesting Rap release of 2018?
On this release, JPEGMAFIA follows his muse, wherever his instinct takes him, his poetry, and samples, move through allusions to a wide spectrum of modern media culture, weaving together a picture of modern life in America. On the other hand, the music is about as close as you can get to abstract electronic music and still make something that sounds like a rap album.
Still, this is a rap album, and all the bragging, swearing, n-word this, b-word that, f-word this, bang-that, does put this middle aged white man off to a certain extent. Which, I guess, is the intention. This ain’t easy listening.
#thewiremagazine #JPEGMAFIA #veteran #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack
