Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, better known by his alias JPEGMafia (stylized in all caps), is an American rapper and producer of experimental hip-hop based in LA. Born in New York to Jamaican parents, JPEG spent most of his childhood in East Flatbush, Brooklyn (deeply rooted in West Indian culture and black pride) and most of his mid-teens in deep south rural Alabama, bouncing from place to place due to rough circumstances at home.  After graduating from high school, JPEG enlisted in the military, deploying to various corners of the world where he’d pick up a little bit of influence from each locale. None would prove to be more crucial than his move to Baltimore in 2014, where he was witness to unrest and the police response to a fiery uprising in response to the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore City Police.

It led him to craft two projects that helped him catch the eyes of people across the country and the internet – 2015’s Darkskin Manson and the project’s follow-up, 2016’s Black Ben Carson. After relocating to Los Angeles, he released his breakthrough album, Veteran, in 2018. In comparison to his first two projects, which were conceptual pieces, Veteran essentially served as Peggy’s autobiographical introduction to the world and the most versatile display of his skill set up to that point. The album received praise from publications such as Pitchfork, Stereogum, The Needle Drop and The Fader, and Peggy became a true icon of post-internet, experimental rap. His next album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, was released in 2019 and enjoyed even more success – debuting at number 105 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming JPEGMafia's first entry on the charts. In 2021, his latest release, LP!, was released.

Jpegmafia

Performing artists