Experimental Rap (album)
2026 studio album by JPEGMafia
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Experimental Rap (stylized in all caps) is the sixth studio album by American rapper and record producer JPEGMafia. It was released through AWAL on May 21, 2026. The album was a follow-up to his fifth studio album, I Lay Down My Life for You (2024).
| Experimental Rap | ||||
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Standard album cover | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 21, 2026 | |||
| Recorded | 2025[1] | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 52:07[2] | |||
| Label | AWAL | |||
| Producers |
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| JPEGMafia chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Experimental Rap | ||||
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On April 30, JPEGMafia released the album's lead single, "Babygirl". In promotion of the album, The Experimental Rap Tour, a North American tour, is set to take place between September and October 2026. Upon release, the album received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who generally praised the project's production, though criticized the repetitive lyrics and flow, especially in comparison to JPEGMafia's previous works.
Background
On August 1, 2024, American rapper and record producer JPEGMafia released his fifth studio album, I Lay Down My Life for You, to positive reviews from music critics.[3][4][5] In promotion of the album, he embarked on the Lay Down My Life Tour that ran from August to September 2024,[6] before he had served as a supporting act for Linkin Park on their From Zero World Tour that ran from June to September 2025.[7]
Between the early year of 2025 and early year of 2026, JPEGMafia released the Director's Cut edition of the 2024's I Lay Down My Life for You in February 2025,[8] released his collaborative extended play—We Live in a Society—with Australian electronic musician Flume in May, collaborating with an American hip-hop duo Joey Valence & Brae on their single ("Wassup"),[9] and appearing on the track ("Nola") from Kevin Abstract's Blush—both the former and the latter of which—in June;[10] as well as providing an additional vocals for a track ("Trinidad") from Geese's Getting Killed in September,[11] released the Director's Cut edition of his collaborative studio album—2023's Scaring the Hoes—with Danny Brown in October,[12] and produced a Maxo Kream and Denzel Curry's collaborative single ("Fake Jeezy") in January 2026.[13]
During in an interview with Pigeons & Planes in May 2026, JPEGMafia described his decision to name the album Experimental Rap, claiming that others in the sub-genre "pretend and try to be cool" with replicating another musician's style and that he could just be himself and "let other people try to figure out who they are at 40 or whatever." These comments led into a publicized spat between Earl Sweatshirt and JPEG on social media, with fans viewing these promotional comments from JPEGMafia as him subliminally criticizing Earl Sweatshirt's recent forays into ambient and plugg.[14] Additionally, the title's idea comes from JPEGMafia claiming to be a dominant figure in experimental hip-hop.[14]
Release and promotion
On April 29, 2026, JPEGMafia announced his sixth studio album, revealing the album's name to be Experimental Rap and its release on May 21.[15] Additionally, JPEGMafia released pre-orders of the album, revealed that it will contain 25 tracks,[16] and announced The Experimental Rap Tour,[15] a North American tour set to take place between September and October 2026.[17] The tour will be supported by Redveil and Matt Proxy.[18] The album was released through AWAL.[19]
Singles
On April 30, 2026, JPEGMafia released the album's lead single, "Babygirl", with an accompanying music video.[18] The album's second single, "War Over Land", was released on May 7, also alongside a music video.[20] The third single, "¥ (Yen)", was released alongside its music video on May 16.[21]
Critical reception
Experimental Rap received mixed reviews from critics. In his review for NME, Luke Morgan Britton summarized Experimental Rap as "a scattergun onslaught of disorientating hip-hop that rarely stops for a breather", adding that despite the album having more than two dozen tracks, "Peggy's flow sounds surprisingly one-note, which, for an artist whose greatest weapon is destabilising listeners, occasionally feels self-defeating".[23] Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Dylan Green suggested that Experimental Rap represented JPEGMafia's "journey from a provocative firestarter to a fiercely bitter heel". Green felt that despite its title, the album lacked experimentation due to repetitive lyrics and triple-time flow, concluding: "Experimental Rap has too many fun moments to write off as a bad album, but there are too few genuinely subversive ideas for it to live up to the earnestness of its title."[24]
Track listing
All tracks are produced and written by Barrington "JPEGMafia" Hendricks unless otherwise noted. Credits adapted from Tidal, Qobuz and Bandcamp.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "投影の芸術" (transl. "The Art of Projection") | 0:57 | ||
| 2. | "Babygirl" | 2:27 | ||
| 3. | "Burning Hammer" | 3:13 | ||
| 4. | "$ (Money)" | 2:15 | ||
| 5. | "Pop This Heat" |
|
| 1:56 |
| 6. | "Meet the Dealers" |
| 2:41 | |
| 7. | "Head" | 1:43 | ||
| 8. | "Degenerates Prayer" | 2:13 | ||
| 9. | "The Ghost of Emmett Till" | 1:56 | ||
| 10. | "Since I Met Ye" | 1:58 | ||
| 11. | "¥ (Yen)" | 2:00 | ||
| 12. | "GYBB" | 1:59 | ||
| 13. | "Tsar Bomba" | 1:46 | ||
| 14. | "Mask On" | 2:33 | ||
| 15. | "His Will" |
|
| 1:07 |
| 16. | "Lights" |
| 3:02 | |
| 17. | "New Era" | 2:27 | ||
| 18. | "One Day It Will Be Over" |
|
| 0:44 |
| 19. | "War Over Land" | 2:54 | ||
| 20. | "Bridges on Fire" (featuring Buzzy Lee) | 2:53 | ||
| 21. | "No Strippers in Heaven" | 2:32 | ||
| 22. | "內戰" (transl. "Civil War") | 0:27 | ||
| 23. | "Chat" | 3:06 | ||
| 24. | "The 1st Amendment" | 1:20 | ||
| 25. | "You Will Always Lose Money Chasing Women, But You Will Never Lose Women Chasing Money" | 1:58 | ||
| Total length: | 52:07 | |||
Notes
- "Babygirl" and "Head" are stylized in all lowercase.
- "Tsar Bomba" is stylized in all caps.
- "You Will Always Lose Money Chasing Women, But You Will Never Lose Women Chasing Money" is stylized in sentence case.
- "Tsar Bomba" was taken off of streaming services on June 29, 2026, due to sample disputes,[25] and has been replaced on new versions with "Valentine's Day Freestyle '26" (2:21).
- On the Bandcamp version of the album, the standard version of "Degenerates Prayer" is retitled to "U Are Not Alone" and appears as the final track, with track 8 being replaced by an entirely different song named "Degenerate's Prayer" (2:31).[1]
Sample and interpolation credits
- "投影の芸術" contains a sample of dialogue from Paul Mooney.[24]
- "Babygirl" contains a sample of "Tr(n)igger", written by Saul Williams and Trent Reznor and performed by Saul Williams.[24]
- "Pop This Heat" contains a sample of "A Little Bit of Love", written and performed by Brenda Russell.[24]
- "The Ghost of Emmett Till" contains a sample of "Shake Your Booty", written and performed by Bunny Sigler.[24]
- "¥ (Yen)" contains a sample of "Money in the Bank", written by Darryl Richardson, David Brown and Isaac Hayes III, and performed by Lil Scrappy featuring Young Buck.[25]
- "Since I Met Ye" and "Mask On" contain a sample of "Mr. Big", written by Premro Smith and Marlon Goodwin, and performed by 8Ball and MJG.[24]
- "Tsar Bomba" contains an unauthorized sample of "Personality Collector", written by Isaac Rodriguez, Walker Wilson, Bryce Morris, Michael Locascio and Johnny Wynne, and performed by We Weren't Invited.[25]
- "Lights" contains a sample of "All of the Lights", written by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Scott Mescudi, Malik Yusef, Warren Trotter and Stacy Ferguson, and performed by West.[25]
Personnel
Credits are adapted from Qobuz.[2]
- Barrington Hendricks – vocals, writing, production
- Dale Becker – mastering