I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

I Lay Down My Life For You isn’t brilliant for the ways in which it’s bonkers, but brilliant for the ways in which it’s not. This is no hyperactive pile-up of disjointed ideas, no scrapbook of jank, but (rather) a weighty and well-realized WOOF of a statement, one that retains the eclecticism, sense of humor and sample/prod-wizardry that put Peggy on the map, but honing that shit to a point.

Nothing stays still for very long – or, as Jpeg has it, “50 beat-switches a minute, they gonna put me in a Guinness” – but every transition is deftly orchestrated and energising. This rapper-producer’s polemical, lane-swerving bent lasts all the way to the end, where a suite of calmer, more reflective tracks display Peggy’s range, and a mea culpa about the end of a relationship (I Recovered From This).

Come for the headlines, but stay for the below-the-bar thrills. ‘I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU’ is in turns earnest and surreal, confusing and pristine.

Those who are only after heavy guitars in their music won’t be completely satisfied. .... But this stunning, expansive collection of songs delivers exactly what this torrid world needs: a simultaneous celebration and indictment that will stand the test of time for decades to come.

JPEGMAFIA's confrontational personality can be overbearing at times, especially to listeners who don't consider themselves to be chronically online, but his production is always stellar, and his sheer creativity is unparalleled. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is up there with LP! as the artist's most accessible work to date.

This album is pretty good – the beats are nice, the rapping is decently energetic and forceful. But in the context of Peggy’s discography, where he’s invariably flowed like all hell over the most original production in recent hip-hop memory, this falls a little flat. I Lay Down My Life For You is good – but it isn’t quite good enough.