If you’ve ever seen Carly Rae Jepsen live, then you know that her euphoric 2012 chart-conqueror “Call Me Maybe” makes for one hell of a cathartic big-crowd singalong. Apparently, it works the same way at shows that are not Carly Rae Jepsen shows. It even works that way at sweaty, packed-in rap shows.

I don’t know how we missed this at the time, but the unpredictable Baltimore art-rap king JPEGMAFIA recorded a mournful, droning six-minute “Call Me Maybe” cover last year, posting it to one of his SoundCloud accounts. (It has old wrestling commentary buried deep in the mix, which is the kind of thing that I apprecaite.) Last night, JPEGMAFIA, currently touring behind his anxious and intense 2019 album All My Heroes Are Cornballs played a show at SWG3 TV Studio in Glasgow. He ended his set by singing “Call Me Maybe” live, on the apparent spur of the moment.

JPEGMAFIA had never done “Call Me Maybe” live before last night. He claims that he’d lost the beat for his cover. But last night, he sang it a cappella, through Auto-Tune, pausing partway through because he couldn’t remember his lyrics. (Peggy’s words are an altered, sexed-up take on the Jepsen original.) This was not, in other words, an especially professional rendition. People still sang along like they were watching Fugazi do “Waiting Room.” Below, watch a couple of fan-made videos and check out the recorded version that JPEGMAFIA posted last year.

[FRESH] JPEGMAFIA – Call Me Maybe from r/hiphopheads

More people should cover “Call Me Maybe.” Hell, maybe everyone should cover “Call Me Maybe.”