Peter Holslin can’t get enough of Juggalo Dog
When I saw Jonwayne at the Echo in L.A. last December, he unleashed a verbal assault on the crowd while dressed in a Biggie cape. Now, in the video for his new song “Minerals & Gems,” he’s rapping underwater. “I’ve been here since bacteria was bubblin’ / the world was just puddles and land mass,” he boasts, and the thing is, I actually do wonder if he’s some kind of force of nature not of this basic mortal plane. Here’s a fairly simple song, devoid of hummable hooks and guided by an unassuming beat. And yet there’s something strange and potent about that bass-line, and Wayne’s wordplay is so abundant and so dense that suckers can walk away without even realizing they’ve received a thorough dressing-down.
“Minerals & Gems” comes off Wayne’s forthcoming EP (out April 28), which is called Jonwayne is Retired. Like much of what he does, this title leaves me curious to know more. Is this, like, his final release? Or the beginning of a fundamental transformation, a caterpillar-becomes-a-butterfly type thing? There’s no point in speculation, but judging from the ultimatums he issues at the end of this track it’s clear Jonwayne isn’t one to fall back. He has plenty more to say.
