Danny Brown and jpegmafia, Scaring the hoes dlc pack: review
In just four tracks, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown flex more range than most can fit in a full length record.
“WARNING: This product will scare hoes. Scaring the hoes will become addictive,” reads the cover of SCARING THE HOES: DLC PACK, imitating the warning label and packaging of vapes and e-cigarettes.
Obnoxious or hilarious, witty sarcasm or vapid stupidity? The golden question persists, even four months removed from JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown’s collaborative effort SCARING THE HOES, VOL. 1, which remains every online hip hop fan’s rap record of the year. A rousing success for the duo, talk of more music hasn’t fallen short, as fans, haters, and unsuspecting bystanders have been treated to an additional four track EP. Regardless of aesthetic or impression, DLC PACK may be the most serious either rapper has taken themselves in years, functioning as another convincing argument in favor of the eccentricity of two hip hop heavyweights.
DLC PACK kicks off fittingly, with “Guess What Bitch, We Back Hoe!” Out of the entire EP, “Guess What Bitch” sounds most like a simple extension of the original SCARING THE HOES project. While still boasting quality, it’s a familiar effort, in both JPEGMAFIA’s braggadocio bars and violent vocal sampling and Danny Brown’s scattershot flows.
From here, DLC PACK deviates heavily from its source material. The musica tropicale-sampling “HERMANOS” proceeds like a lost Earl Sweatshirt record, but instead, the rappers approach this song with a Love Below era, Andre 3000-esque attitude. It sounds nothing like the music JPEGMAFIA or Danny Brown have made in their decade long careers, an exhilarating accomplishment considering the size and scope of their catalogs. Although the last minute develops into a more familiar sound, it’s a flex of talent and range, proving the word “stagnant” doesn’t exist in either of the rappers’ vocabularies.
Describing the jazz rap twinged “Tell Me Where To Go,” is an understatement. Danny Brown’s subtle flow sounds near unrecognizable, and in the place of maniacal gunshot snares, or anything of the sort, is a laid back soul sample, a sound comparable to the Chance the Rapper lead Chicago movement of the late 2010s. In its traditionalism, it’s possibly the most radical track either artist has made in their life. Moving into its final quarter, “NO! NO! NO!…” (the official title features 32 NO!s) brings back the familiar JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown; its gigantic gospel sample and drums is pure nightmare fuel. Even in its more appropriate sound, the evolution is present and the excitement is palpable.
The last two minutes of DLC PACK see Danny Brown delivering an extended spoken word verse. The verse and the EP holistically feel like a semicolon rather than a period, as eager ears are left wondering where the duo could go from here. While no confirmation yet exists of a VOL. 2, it seems the duo left dozens of tracks on the cutting room floor. Additionally, a new Danny Brown outing seems imminent, as the highly anticipated Quaranta album has allegedly been finished, and awaiting Warp Records approval for two years. And if JPEGMAFIA is to be believed, two more records in 2023 alone can be expected from the rapper-producer extraordinaire. All this to say: if SCARING THE HOES: DLC PACK hasn’t satiated a need for more BROWNPEGMAFIA, don’t fret; the duo seem far from done.
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown take the SCARING THE HOES tour to New York on August 9th and 11th, at The Rooftop at Pier 17 and Terminal 5 respectively.
Listen to “GUESS WHAT BITCH, WE BACK HOE!” off their EP here: