Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, known professionally as JPEGMafia, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Baltimore, Maryland. His 2018 album Veteran, released through Deathbomb Arc, received widespread critical acclaim and was featured on many year-end lists. It was followed by 2019's All My Heroes Are Cornballs, released to further critical acclaim.
Early life and education
Hendricks was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, to Jamaican parents. He spent the majority of his childhood in Flatbush, before moving to Alabama at age 13, where he says he experienced a significant amount of racism which later had a great effect on his music. Hendricks moved to Louisiana and enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 18. He served a tour of duty in Iraq and also spent time in Kuwait, Germany, Japan, and North Africa, before being honorably discharged. Though he previously claimed to have a master's degree in journalism, Hendricks has since clarified that, though having studied the subject while deployed, he was not officially awarded a degree.
Career
Hendricks developed an interest in music production at the age of 15, and he began producing after he learned how to sample. While in the military, he created his YouTube channel joechillworld in July 2009 where he uploaded his beats, songs and music videos. During his military stay in Japan, he was producing and writing music under the name Devon Hendryx. In the military, he met fellow rapper and producer Enso Sinatra. They made music together with and formed the group Ghost~Pop. In 2015, he moved to Baltimore, where he began to make music under his moniker JPEGMafia, under which he released his mixtapeCommunist Slow Jams in April 2015. Only a month later, he released his mixtape Darkskin Manson which was inspired by the Freddie Gray protests in Baltimore that were happening right as he had moved there. Following a number of mixtapes, Hendricks released his debut studio album, Black Ben Carson, in February 2016 via Deathbomb Arc featuring a much harsher, distorted sound than his other projects. Four months later, he released a collaborative EP with fellow Baltimore-based rapper Freaky titled The 2nd Amendment. Hendricks moved from Baltimore to Los Angeles for his next studio album. In January 2018, he released his second studio album Veteran. In an article on Bandcamp, he said "I wanted to show I'm not just a one-trick pony. I always do weird shit. I usually just keep it to myself. This time, I just let the filter go." At the time of its release, Veteran was considered JPEGMafia's most experimental album to date, receiving widespread critical acclaim. After the release of Veteran, Hendricks started working on his next album. He recorded 93 songs, and whittled it down to 18 tracks. He mixed and mastered it at the end of Vince Staples' tour, posting percentage updates frequently on his Instagram. Prior to the release, he would label the project as a "disappointment" in interviews and his social media. The first single from the album, "Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot", was released on August 13, 2019. He promoted the album by uploading a series of listening sessions to his YouTube channel where his friends were discussing and reacting to the album. All My Heroes Are Cornballs was released on September 13, 2019 to further critical acclaim, and was his first album to chart. In October 2019, he embarked on the JPEGMafia Type Tour to support his new album. In March 2020, Hendricks started a weekly vlog series on his YouTube channel called HTBAR. The series feature JPEGMafia talking to other artists and friends about various topics, mostly about music, life and politics. Each episode's soundtrack consist of unreleased songs, demos and instrumentals produced by JPEGMafia. Artists that have featured on the vlog series include Danny Brown, Kenny Beats, Lykke Li, Orville Peck, Saba and more. Hendricks has cited Kanye West, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Throbbing Gristle, MF DOOM, Lil B, SpaceGhostPurrp, Chief Keef, Hanson, Ice Cube, and The Backstreet Boys as influences.
