Scaring the Hoes by JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown | Album Review
Two of hip-hop’s most subversive rappers collaborate on their first joint album.
Listen to Scaring The Hoes: Apple Music | Spotify
This is a collab I’ve been waiting on for quite some time. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are two artists in the rap game that bring their own originality into the genre. Both are very obscure musicians that revel in their oddities. Whether it’s JPEG’s brand of experimental rap or Danny’s distinctive nasally voice, these two are certainly of an acquired taste. Those willing to bite the bullet and experience these two rappers’ unique styles are going to be met with some of the genre’s most inventive and left-field sounding projects in recent memory (Atrocity Exhibition, Black Ben Carson, etc).
So what happens when you pair two of hip-hop’s most unconventional artists together on one album? You get Scaring The Hoes. It was inevitable that these two would eventually collaborate at some point in time. JPEG and Danny complement each other surprisingly well. Bringing their own nuances together over some of JPEG’s most outlandish beats he’s produced in quite some time. The end result is an album full of controlled chaos and maniacal energy that could only be done by these two rappers.
There’s a huge DIY element to the production of Scaring The Hoes that makes the album feel like a breath of fresh air. Each track is a collage of various samples and other sounds that work incredibly well together. As a producer, JPEG is known for making instrumentals with the most obscure samples, but here he takes it up a notch. The majority of the album is a melting pot of industrial music, hyper pop, glitch, and rap. One minute, JPEG samples a sax solo on top of a set of blaring drums bringing a level of uneasiness to the album’s title track. The next, he’ll chop up Kelis’ “Milkshake” and use it for the rhythm of the jersey-club-influenced “Fentanyl Tester”.
JPEG’s avant-garde approach to hip-hop makes it even more challenging when it comes to rapping on his obscure beats. Yet somehow, both rappers manage to tackle these auditory beasts. Danny Brown’s gremlin attitude and yelpy voice contrast quite nicely with JPEG’s machine gun flow and delivery. Hearing the two trade bars on the bass thumping “Burfict!” or the two-parter “Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters” felt like a fever dream. There’s a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde effect going on throughout Scaring The Hoes that elevates the album among other joint projects of recent memory.
I can’t express enough how eccentric the album’s production is. The amount of sampling and inspiration the album takes is quite expansive. True to JPEG’s formula, there is a heavy “internet quality” to the album that makes it feel like something that could only be done in this day and age. That internet quality even boils down to the track titles, referencing internet personas and viral collaborations.
Lyrically, those familiar with both artists’ discography are going to feel right at home with this album. Musings of drugs, sex, and society as a whole permeate this album. Expect to hear some clever bars from Danny Brown as he paints a vivid picture on the gospel-heavy “God Loves You” (“That pussy on my face, I’ma talk in tongues. Legs in the air, scream hallelujah.”) On the single “Lean Beef Patty” opens with JPEG throwing shots at Twitter’s newest owner and his policies (“Fuck Elon Musk, 8 dollars too much bitch, that’s expensive.”). Not a surprise to hear Peggy call out corrupt people.
The album’s sole feature Redveil shines on the angelic “Kingdom Hearts Key”. His verse is fixated on his burgeoning rap career amidst constant doubts. It fits the song’s triumphant vibe and Danny/JPEG’s own self-affirming verses. It’s certainly a highlight of the album and one that will turn many ears toward Redveil’s music.
My one issue with the album and something that has plagued my experience with it at the time of writing is the album’s mixing. The mixing between the vocals and the beats on Scaring The Hoes can be quite jarring. Often times I couldn’t discern what either rapper was saying on a majority of songs. Perhaps this is a part of the album’s DIY quality? Whatever the case is, the album’s mixing made songs such as “Run The Jewels” incredibly hard to listen to. Hopefully, it’s something that can be fixed in the near future.
Overall, as the first joint album from two of hip-hop’s misfits, I can’t say I was disappointed. Scaring The Hoes is a solid first collaboration between JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown. With JPEG’s eccentric production and the lyricism/flow from both artists, this album sets the foundation for future collaborations to follow between the two. The album excels in its unconventional use of sampling and beats, with verses that equally match. While the album’s mixing is still a sight for sore eyes, I believe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
For my final rating, I’m giving JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown’s Scaring The Hoes a 7/10. It’s one of the more obscure rap albums to have come out in some time, and definitely one that will have people talking as the year goes by. Despite some technical mishaps I’m still glad that JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown, the two outliers of hip-hop, were able to come together and collaborate on an album. Here’s hoping to hear more from this dynamic duo.
Final Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: Lean Beef Patty, SCARING THE HOES, Fentanyl Tester, Burfict!, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters, Kingdom Hearts Key
