For the past few months, JPEGMAFIA has been posting a countdown on his Instagram, but he won’t say to what. Every few weeks, he posts a photo tagged with a new percentage. Back in March, it was at 35 percent. His most recent post – on May 15, at the time this was written – is at 52 percent. His fans, in the comments, speculate about its significance but he refuses to indulge any of them, or me.

“That’s just a countdown to the end of the world,” he says, laughing, taking a hit off his bowl, an accessory he only puts down once he’s burned all his weed, only then to switch it out for his vape pen.

Is it really? I ask.

“There’s no telling. It could be something you didn’t even expect. But I’m very excited to show you this very weird, disappointing thing.”

Why do you think it’s gonna be disappointing?

“You know when you just look at something and you’re like, ‘This is ass’? That’s what I do every day when I look at it, you feel me?” he says, taking another hit. “I just have to be honest with the people, you know? So they don’t get their expectations up for whatever it is, but it’s gonna terrible. Really bad.”