The leather-clad cowboy sparked a spiritual experience on the Roadrunner stage.
For over 13 years, rap artist JPEGMAFIA has carefully and radically made quite the name for himself. JPEG’s dedication to his career is omnipresent in every beat of his discography and leapt out at his Boston audience the moment he picked up the mic at Roadrunner on Sunday, Sept. 15.
The night began with an electrifying opening set from Jane Remover. Pioneer of the hyperpop subgenre “dariacore,” Remover has always been characterized as a highly innovative artist, never failing to keep her audiences on their toes. Remover set the bar for the night with a cacophony of rage and screaming remorse served with a heaping side of swagger and certainty in her sound. Blending effortlessly with the timbre of JPEGMAFIA’s sound, Remover did no less than Lay Down [Her] Life for her audience.
JPEGMAFIA’s set crept in softly with a long ambient instrumental track that grounded the audience in the shift from Remover to JPEG. After several minutes of the audience’s attitude ramping up into rabid anticipation, JPEG strode out and jumped into one of his most popular tracks, “Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot.” The audience roared in approval and began swarming with banging heads, moshing shoulders, and arms raised in reverence of the rapper himself.
As a decorated veteran of the music industry, JPEG’s expert craft shone through in each track he performed. As JPEG digressed from travel exhaustion and his feelings about the reception of his work over time, the show settled into a rhythm of sharp and intense performances punctuated by mellow asides. JPEG’s general stage presence swung from the brooding, booming nature of his reputation and work, to the softer, humble moments of connection with his audience. While he spat on stage and commanded the audience to scream, “Fuck you, Peggy!” during his performances, he perched quietly on speakers and tossed water bottles into the pit immediately after.
JPEG started the show true to his roots and hit some fan-favorite tracks early on, including “BALD!” and his deliciously groovy cover of “Call Me Maybe.” In these moments of transition, JPEG’s mastery shone through once again — no bite was lost from his bellow in the upbeat tracks, yet the delicacy and passion of his softer songs played strong almost unexpectedly. JPEG’s balance in tone and stage presence mesmerized his audience, who awaited each new track with bated breath.
The crowd’s energy surged as JPEG moved to songs from his two newest albums, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU and SCARING THE HOES. Tracks like “i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone” and “God Loves You” mobilized the crowd, swaying with the rhythm of JPEG’s kinetics. From his Roadrunner pulpit, JPEG conducted a swarm of fans hypnotized by his energy — almost helplessly moshing, screaming, and exalting until the very end of his set. JPEG finished with a strong focus on his newer work while staying grounded in the music and career that has led him to cultivate shows as dynamic and divine as his Roadrunner performance.