JPEGMAFIA truly does not care. He does what he wants, and he doesn’t apologize. It makes sense, given combative album titles like All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019) and SCARING THE H*ES (2023). Peggy is bold as ever on his new release, I Lay Down My Life for You, but the sonic experimentalism will definitely be taking a backseat to the combative bars. JPEGMAFIA decided to hop aboard the Drake hate train, and deliver some absolutely brutal insults on the cuts “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” and “New Black History.” The rapper goes as far as to coin the phrase “No Drizzy.”
“It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” is not solely a Drake diss. There are bars aimed at entitled fans and jealous rappers, but the ones aimed at the 6 God are unmistakable. He flips Drake’s 2018 song “No Friends In the Industry” while spotlighting the allegations that the Toronto rapper has been with underage girls. “I can count all of my industry friends on my hands. And my n**gas, they be in demand,” JPEGMAFIA spits. “Obviously, rappers, they know what it is. If I show you a Drac’, I ain’t playin’ with kids.” The use of Drac’ the firearm as a double entendre for Drizzy is another reference, to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” diss. It is worth pointing out the song’s title evokes DMX’s first album. DMX, of course, was a rapper who very much despised the 6 God.
JPEGMAFIA disses Drake on his new album…
“Rappers they know what it is // If I show you a Drac’, I ain’t playin’ with kids”
“Specially when ya’ll cashing out for PDF’s and r*pers (No Drizzy)”pic.twitter.com/TxYZzq9sxI
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) August 1, 2024
Then there’s the “No Drizzy” line. The song “New Black History” sees JPEGMAFIA and Vince Staples trade bars over a glitchy instrumental. Staples is predictably excellent during his verse, but Peggy goes for the throat on his. “‘Specially when ya’ll cashing out for PDF’s and rapers (No Drizzy),” he raps. “I hope ya’ll paid attention, no really, I’m dyin’. I killed myself, tell them to kill me (Hey).” Oof. “No Drizzy” comes from the same place as “No Diddy,” which took the internet by storm earlier this year. The phrase was a way to denote sus behavior, while referencing the horrid allegations leveled at Diddy.
JPEGMAFIA equating Drake with Diddy is perhaps the most devastating diss made by anyone not named Kendrick Lamar. This, of course, is nothing new for the rapper. JPEGMAFIA has been a Drake hater since day one. “I been randomly dissing Drake for like five years,” he told DJ Booth in 2019. “Don’t know why. I guess, because [it’s] Drake. He’s so big that yeah I have been dissing him for five years, just because like he’s big as f*ck.” Peggy’s disses are a bit more heated on the new album, though, so there may be more to the hating than internet trolling. When Kendrick Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” diss dropped on May 3, JPEGMAFIA tweeted: “I’m no longer the biggest Drake hater. Kendrick Unbelievable.” We agree, but the rapper is giving Dot a run for his money.
