JPEGMAFIA

“My first live performance was when I was in the military. I went to some bar, and they had open mics. You could just sign up and perform. Nobody cared. Nobody liked it.”

“I don't rely on the strength of my image.”

“I been compared a lot to Brockhampton a lot.”

“I don't think any other place puts out music with no promise of success and still works like Baltimore.”

“I saw Fear perform live at a young age, so I guess you could say I draw from that same energy.”

“Rick Rubin is interesting. He doesn't wear shoes, I think? No wait, he wears shoes.”

“I am used to experiencing so much trauma, that when I see it, I have to speak out. I don't think rappers have a responsibility, but if you don't say something or be silent or avoid it, I believe it shows your true real character to the world. It's like, if no one wants to rap about gentrification then I am going to fill that void!”

“Well, me and Freaky been knowing each other for a while, and he was always playing crazy music in his room, but he would never release it. He's, like, the most underground rapper I know, and he's crazy talented.”

“Liberals allow right-wingers on their platforms to have a 'civilized discussion,' but there's no reasoning with racists. I don't want them to have a platform that humanizes them. I want to talk down to them and meet them exactly where they are, with absolutely no respect.”

“I just wanted to write about music if I wasn't going to make it.”

“I'd rather be dead than work in a warehouse.”

“Kendrick Lamar is 10-times the rapper I am, but I just feel I'm the best at getting my own point across.”

“I am used to making people upset and uncomfortable with my lyrical content when it comes to music.”

“When I die, I want people to be like, 'Respect the music.' I don't really care if you hate me or like me - what I want badly is the validation and respect of the people.”

“If I wasn't making music I'd still be listening to it and talking about it. That's why I'm able to chill with Denzel Curry and then Jeff Tweedy, because the thing that's linking us is music.”

“The first thing I ever put on the Internet was actually a beat tape, but the first thing I ever put on where I was rapping was called 'Generation Y,' and it was hella political.”

“I don't want anyone to expect anything from me. I just want them to know that I'm gonna put 1,037% into whatever I do. If I tell you I'm gonna release a folk/reggae/country album, just know at bare minimum there's gonna be 1,010% put into it.”

“I grew up in Flatbush, Queens, Laurelton. These are places where it's mostly black and there was a lot of diversity.”

“I think it's important for black people in general to be aware of what's going on and do what you got to work around it. Not bow down to it publicly.”

“On 'Black Ben Carson,' I had strict no melody thing. I wanted straight, raw, rugged noise music.”