The one album that put JID in a “dark place”
JID has been one of the most exciting rappers of the past decade. The Atlanta lyricist has been spitting for around 15 years, grinding with mixtapes until signing a deal with J Cole’s Dreamville label in 2017. Since then, he’s released three albums with increased success with each offering. However, the rapper has admitted that one of them put him in a dismal place.
In 2022, JID released his impressive The Forever Story album. The project debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, marking his highest-charting solo album. It featured guest appearances from Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, Lil Durk, and others. Its song ‘Surround Sound’ became a hit two years later thanks to the “Ceiling Challenge” TikTok trend, reaching as high as number 40 on the Hot 100.
Despite its modest success, JID couldn’t help but think the album should have been received better. Based on his output and effort, he felt the project could take him to bigger heights, and it’s hard to disagree with him.
“Starting this new journey coming off THE FOREVER STORY has been a very strange, productive, yet tedious process,” he admitted on Instagram. “I remember not feeling like I got what I think I deserved after that album came out and it sent me into a dark place (for maybe 20 mins cuz I ain’t no bitch).
“Fast-forward to Pluss playing this beat for me in the studio and all I could hear was my OG coach saying, ‘Let’s go to WORK.’ I live my life by the saying ‘You can only control what you can control.’ So this is the first step into a new world that I control…and it’s fuckin UGLY.”
One explanation for why he felt it deserved a better response is likely how personal he made the project. More than ever before, he packed in stories about how his family influences who he is, allowing himself to be more open with listeners.
“[My family] is basically a part of how I became who I am,” he told Complex. “It gives inklings of why my [mindset] is a certain type of way. I gave more detail and in-depth stories [on this album], but there’s still more layers to be peeled back, which I am going to do because this is going to be a long process of trying to understand me. This is just a good piece of the origin story, and this is me finding that space to be more visible and present with words.”
The Forever Story got its name from JID not getting a record deal until his late ’20s, explaining how it’s about the bigger picture rather than a small phase of life. “I play forever, that’s why I’m so patient,” he said. “I didn’t get signed as a young artist, I didn’t even always want to be an artist. I used to just be a real hard fan of music. We didn’t even expect to be here. So we’re going to be around regardless.” With his next album, God Does Like Ugly, he’ll be hoping for a change in fortune.