Detroit rapper Danny Brown and New York rapper/producer JPEGMAFIA already tend towards the experimental and the uncontainable with their individual work, and collaborative album Scaring the Hoes offers both artists a chance to revel in their eccentricities and amplify the more challenging elements of their sounds. Browns unmistakable flows (sometimes nasal and nerdy, sometimes technically dazzling) and JPEGs often-distorted bars swim upstream through overpowering beats. Produced by JPEGMAFIA entirely on a hardware sampler, the raw and rangy production character of Scaring the Hoes becomes its third power. Samples play a big role in many of the beats, with sped-up 80s R&B vocals meeting up with doomy synths and hectic breakbeats on opening track "Lean Beef Patty." Elsewhere, easily identifiable rap tracks get chopped and mangled into new, ugly forms. Kelis ubiquitous 2003 hit "Milkshake" is rendered frazzled and frantic on the exhilarating "Fentanyl Tester," with her vocals chopped to bits and rearranged in rhythms that shift from banging drumnbass to a glitchy tech-house-style ending. The albums sole feature comes from Maryland rapper redveil, who contributes a verse to "Kingdom Hearts Key," which samples what sounds like either an anime soundtrack or an Enya deep cut as its main loop. Throughout, Brown and JPEGMAFIA contort their tracks like kids playing with Legos, running spirited gospel choirs through blown-out filters on "God Loves You" and mismatching subtle piano jazz and blustery drum breaks on the stop-start stumble of "Jack Harlow Combo Meal." For as defiantly anti-pop as Scaring the Hoes is, Brown and Peggy still achieve something unexpectedly catchy and captivating with these lawless creations. Its crowded, confusing, ridiculous music, but despite its scary intentions, the albums renegade production and impressive performances make it more exciting than frightening. ~ Fred Thomas

Rovi