Black Ben Carson
JPEGMAFIA 2016 rebellious
experimental hip-hop Noise Rap Political Hip-Hop
A Molotov cocktail lobbed from Baltimore's basement — noise-rap as political weapon, where laptop production becomes a blunt instrument of confrontation and every sample is a provocation.
Acoustic Profile
Production
Method: sample-based
Fidelity: lo-fi-aesthetic
Laptop-only production with intentionally degraded sample qualityAggressive noise bursts and feedback layered over trap rhythmsAbrupt sample cuts creating disorienting collage structuresDistorted vocal processing alternating with raw deliveryInternet-sourced samples from memes, news clips, and pop culture detritus
Vocal
Approach: mixed
Lyrical Abstraction: 4/10
Mood & Theme
rage chaos defiance
Territory: political-rage, internet-culture-warfare, black-radical-tradition, baltimore-underground
Emotional Arc: sustained-fury-to-manic-release
Era & Context
Emerging from Baltimore's DIY scene during peak internet culture wars, Black Ben Carson channeled political fury through noise-rap aesthetics that were too abrasive for hip-hop and too hip-hop for noise. The album's title alone — naming a radical alter-ego after a controversial political figure — signaled JPEGMAFIA's confrontational intent in an era of calculated online personas.
Spiritual Links (4)
The Money Store Death Grips (2012)
7/10 sonic-experimentationpolitical-rage
Year of the Snitch Death Grips (2018)
6/10 sonic-experimentationgenre-destruction
Yeezus Kanye West (2013)
5/10 genre-destructionsonic-experimentation
Year Zero Nine Inch Nails (2007)
4/10 political-ragetechnological-anxiety
Influences
Similar Albums (Cross-Artist)
1
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Public Enemy (1988)
86% 2 Hard to Earn DJ Premier (1994)
83% 3 Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) RZA (1993)
80% 4 Donda 2 Kanye West (2022)
79% 5 Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black Public Enemy (1991)
76% 6 Fear of a Black Planet Public Enemy (1990)
76% 7 Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age Public Enemy (1994)
75% 8 Confusion Fela Kuti (1984)
74% 9 New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) Erykah Badu (2008)
74% 10 Yo! Bum Rush the Show Public Enemy (1987)
74%