Depending on when one has encountered the music of JID (also stylized as J.I.D.), one constant that has remained is his tremendous command of styles, flow, and melody over the course of his musical output. With his latest full-length album, God Does Like Ugly, JID’s artistry sounds more fully realized than ever, and fans on X are showering the Georgia artist with high praise.
Over the years, Hip-Hop Wired has counted JID as one of the top artists of his generation, and at just 34 years of age, his still-burgeoning career has shown exceptional growth between his work with the Spillage Village collective, EarthGang, and a host of others.
God Likes Ugly follows the Decatur artist’s surprise EP GDLU (Preluxe), a quick 4-pack to whet the appetites of his fans. J.I.D.’s fourth album is packed with features like Westside Gunn on the bombastic opener, “YouUgly,” and “Community” features Clipse, one of the early standouts. Long Beach sage Vince Staples shows up on the introspective “VCRs,” and Don Tolliver lends his vocals to “What We On.”
Ty Dolla $ign and his Spillage Village compatriot 6lack show up for “Wholeheartedly,” and Jessie Reyez provides Colombian flavor on the “No Boo” track. Reaching deep into his Atlanta bag, J.I.D. enlists Baby Kia for “On McAfeee” and “Of Blue,” featuring the stellar vocals of his longtime collaborator, Mereba. J.I.D. always pays homage to legends before him and enlisted Pastor Troy on the track K-Word.
JID sat down with The Joe Budden Podcast for an exclusive Patreon interview and explained that he recorded God Does Like Ugly at the same time as his stellar autobiographical album, The Forever Story. J.I.D. also revealed that he has a full-length project with Dreamville honcho, J. Cole, and delivered a feature on a Black Thought song, among other details.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans of JID are giving their early thoughts on the new drop. We’ve got those reactions in the gallery.
Find God Does Like Ugly at your preferred DSPs below.
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Photo: Getty
