About

JPEGMAFIA, also known as Peggy for short, is the stage name of Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, an American rapper and producer from Baltimore, Maryland. Formerly in the US Air Force, he became known as JPEGMAFIA for his politically charged and experimental style of hip hop with projects such as Black Ben Carson and Darkskin Manson before seeing more widespread success with his 2018 album Veteran released on Deathbomb Arc.

History

Prior to JPEGMAFIA, Hendricks released music as Devon Hendryx from 2009 to 2013^[6] while stationed in Japan during his time in the Air Force. He was also part of the group Ghost Pop during this time before Hendricks returned to the United States.^[1]

In 2015, he began to release music as JPEGMAFIA with self-released mixtapes and EPs such as Communist Slowjams and Darkskin Manson. In 2016, he released his debut album Black Ben Carson which was followed by the EP The 2nd Amendment, a collaborative effort with fellow rapper and producer Freaky. In 2018, he released his second studio album Veteran on Deathbomb Arc, which garnered coverage from a number of music publications such as Pitchfork^[2] and music critic Anthony Fantano, who gave the album a decent to strong 8 and described him as "on the cutting edge of noisy/experimental rap music."

Reputation

JPEGMAFIA became known for his experimental style of hip hop that combined elements of noise with satire of contemporary politics and current events, with song titles like "I Might Vote 4 Donald Trump," "I Just Killed A Cop Now I’m Horny," "I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies," and "Libtard Anthem."

Online Presence

JPEGMAFIA has over 60,000 followers on Twitter^[3] and 113,000 followers on Instagram.^[4] He has hidden the amount of subscribers he has on YouTube,^[5] but the channel has accumulated over 4.8 million views.

Personal Life

Hendricks was born on October 22nd, 1989 to Jamaican parents in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He moved to Alabama at age 13 and after graduating high school, joined the US Air Force. He served a tour in Iraq and spent time deployed in places such as North Africa and Japan, before being honorably discharged after reporting on his superiors that had committed abuse. It was during his military service where he gained his interest in producing music.