Hi everyone, Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. And you know what? We have announced one of my most anticipated albums of the year now, because believe it or not, in 2026 we are getting a brand new full-length album from none other than producer, rapper, songwriter extraordinaire, Mr. JPEGMAFIA. But already, this new album cycle is off to a rocky or controversial start. First, let's start with the title, EXPERIMENTAL RAP, which given that it is Peggy, this man is no stranger to meta-commentary, poking fun at himself, or also taking himself so seriously that it's beyond belief.

When I first saw this title, I didn't really know what direction to take it in. Then there's also the lead single to this record, "Baby Girl," something I normally would reserve for a full-length track review in a video like this. But to be completely honest, I don't have a whole lot to say about this this single. I feel like I have more commentary on it in light of it landing on an album titled EXPERIMENTAL RAP, when honestly, in the grander scheme of things, this is far from one of Peggy's most experimental songs.

Now, it is a single. Maybe he wanted to go very direct, catchy, and predictable with it. But I don't know, maybe I'm kind of overselling it by calling it catchy. It doesn't really have a strong chorus to speak of, and the song structure is just merely okay. If the song brings anything, it's just kind of that typical Peggy vibe of a really quirky and unlikely vocal chop looped in the background, a really huge blown-out beat, some buried but decently performed rap verses, and the song just kind of sits there and exists until it sort of fizzles out into nothing. A bit of a heavy guitar outro on there too, which of course, you know, is something that we heard quite a bit of on his last full-length album, which I loved. Now again, this track to me sort of feels like Peggy doing what Peggy usually does. It's sort of par for the course at this point. If I heard this instrumental without the vocal on it at all, I would presume it's somebody who's ripping him off. And outside of that, there's not really a whole lot to say.

I don't see myself going back to the song over and over unless it's within the context of this album, and I go on to enjoy it once it's fully released.

The next thing I want to talk about in this video, and this could be a positive or a negative for Peggy and this new album cycle, is this track is generating a lot less conversation than some recent comments Peggy made in a Pigeons and Planes interview:

"With EXPERIMENTAL RAP, I just wanted to lay claim to something I already have. I'm already the best in this space of experimental rap. There's no one who competes with me. There's no one who does what I do. I'm not copied. I don't have any type beats. It's not because people don't like me, it's because people cannot do what I do. So me naming EXPERIMENTAL RAP is just me laying claim to something I already had. I just need to lay claim to it because nobody else is. And by the time they figure out that this is something beautiful and not icky, I want it to be too late. Other people in this genre, they want to pretend and try to be cool and try to like pretend like, oh, I want to be over here. I want to— I don't want to be experimental rap. I want to be something else. I want to fucking rap like LUCKI. I want to do this. I want to make like songs that the young people make. I'm not having a midlife crisis musically. So I don't really need to do that. I can just be myself because I've always been myself and I let other people try to figure out who they are at 40 or whatever."

Now, would you believe me if I said this interview is actually creating a bit of an uproar? Which to me is kind of funny having listened to Peggy's music for years and kind of watched the ways in which he's moved on the internet through album after album. To me, in this moment, he is very transparently trolling. And while yes, it is true, he may wholeheartedly believe some of the things that he's saying in terms of him being the king of experimental rap, he is also decked out in black leather and sitting there in this chair surrounded by people like he's some kind of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles supervillain (which I do not mean in a derogatory way). The man sounds like he's cutting a wrestling promo. He's like one of those conniving, cool, calm, and collected heels you're going to see at SummerSlam. And look, just because Peggy may be saying things he internally actually does feel, doesn't mean he's not framing them here in a way that is likely to get people pissed off and reacting and talking about him.

Also, as another sidebar, I will add, it is pretty clear from the visuals and the cover and what he's trying to pull off here with the outfit and this interview that he has been putting some of that Ye Vultures, and BTS production money back into the production and the rollout, which frankly I think is pretty cool. You love to see an artist actually invest in their rollout and their music.

But still, with that being said, especially on Instagram, this interview clip has been drawing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of negative comments calling this man corny, calling him insane. But maybe the most interesting voice to chime in is none other than Earl Sweatshirt. And part of the reason that that is, is that I think he rightly, and many of his fans, sort of read a few of the comments in this Peggy interview as a subliminal toward him, talking about how there are some rappers out there who were avoiding being experimental in any way and wanting to chase after a sound or a style that's more for the kids, what the young people are doing, rapping like LUCKI, which is a comparison even I made in the new Earl and MIKE double feature album experience that they just put out. Also keep in mind, this is not even the first time that Peggy has gone at Earl in some sense. There was that comment from a while back where he was talking about how he and The Alchemist essentially keep making the same songs over and over and over.

I mean, with that being said, did Earl not try something different and do another thing and go in another lane with this new album with MIKE? I mean, do you want this man to do something different or do the same thing that is predictable and is, I don't know, right for his age or whatever? Either way, Earl hopped in the comments of this interview clip to drop some crying emojis, saying, "Nobody copies cuh because his music is gnarled, rough, and ugly." And also, "Leave me alone, please. I make music with my friends that I have (derogatory)," clearly poking fun at the reception that Peggy is a very antisocial person after all. This is not the first time this man has had kind of a one-sided beef. The one that he had with Freddie Gibbs for a minute is maybe the most famous one-sided beef of the modern era.

But maybe there's also something a little bit deeper here because these two have been pictured together in what seems like a pretty agreeable setting. Were they on good terms at one point? Maybe Earl is speaking from experience, maybe having been friends or acquaintances in some capacity with this man at one time and now clearly it's all sort of gone to shit. Or maybe in, you know, true wrestling fashion, could be kayfabe. Who the hell knows? Especially since Peggy was ultra quick to respond to Earl's comments, telling him "he's the first guy to go back underground since Joe Budden," he should not say "cuh" because "he is 32 and went to boarding school" as well. And while beef with another artist may not always be good for public perception and an album rollout, clearly on some level, I think this was part of Peggy's plan because he does thank Earl as well for the promo, calling him Lil Guy, which I'm not even sure Earl is smaller than Peggy.

And regardless of whether or not you find those comments corny, Earl certainly saw fit to respond to them once again: "You know what, bro? My fault. I misspoke. Bro is the king of making crunchy ass music and wearing Muay Thai shorts. Super excited for the album, brother (positive) seems like it's going to be really experimental."

"I fuck with the leather vibe too, twin. Shit hard."

And look, as much as I think Peggy might be making a valid point about the quality of the music Earl has been making and where it comes from, simultaneously, he's just kind of doing what he wants to do. And generally speaking, he's such an agreeable and innocuous figure. There's not really anything about him or the way that he moves in the industry currently that makes him ripe for picking on or beefing with.

But again, that may be part of Peggy's intent here because I don't think this man is desperate to be liked and loved, at least by a good portion of the fan base of online rap fans out there. He is clearly embracing the hate and the fact that a lot of people find him to be unlikable. It's a quality that he has spoken on and talked about for a long time, and I think he just realizes there's something inherently in himself that just makes him grating to people who, as he has attested to, are insecure or have this issue/that issue. I think he's just kind of leaning into it.

Call it corny, call it whatever, but this man clearly does not care if you hate him. Or rather, he kind of wants you to hate him. He wants to be the villain. And one last thing I'll add here is maybe the funniest part that has nothing directly to do with Earl or Peggy, and that's a random comment from Diplo: "I dunno know what kinda music he makes but he's the best at by miles . and he loves what he does and he pushes it forward for the love."

What the fuck is this man talking about? And why is there a period with a space in the middle of that whole thing? Is that supposed to be a comma? Also, I love how he says he doesn't know what kind of music he makes. Peggy literally says in the clip, "I make experimental rap. My album is named EXPERIMENTAL RAP.".Diplo was just baked out of his mind scrolling through Instagram Reels and leaving this comment. Mwah. Perfection. You know, the guy's just coming out to show love to his fellow BTS ARIRANG co-producer friend.

So yeah that's, that's this beef. I think I'm gonna leave it there.