JID joins the call from a taxi. By the end of the call, I think he’s on an aeroplane, but I can’t quite pinpoint the moment he boarded. I was too busy trying to keep up with the conversation. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise – the Atlanta rap star is known for his intricate, rapid-fire delivery, and, throughout our conversation, he regularly delivers well-thought-out answers to my questions before I even have time to think of a follow-up. “That’s where I get my name from,” he tells me. “Jittery.”
Now 34, with four acclaimed albums under his belt and his contribution to Netflix’s Arcane soundtrack teetering on two billion streams, the nickname still fits. JID has been working overtime in the run-up to the release of his latest album, God Does Love Ugly. As we speak, he is beginning the journey from New York to the Atlanta leg of his Dollar and a Dream tour (each show costing just $1). Later, he tells me with a shrug of his shoulders that, when his label asked him for two singles for the project, he presented them with an entire four-track EP featuring Eminem, Lil Yachty and 6lack.
This level of hyperproductivity appears to be standard procedure for JID. When I asked him what he gets up to when his schedule isn’t jam-packed, his response is delivered deadpan, turning to the camera mid-order in the airport executive lounge: “I haven’t been to that place. That’s for when I retire.”
Indeed, it is JID’s unwavering belief in the virtues of hard work that forms the central focus of God Does Love Ugly. Much like his touring schedule, he covers impressive ground across its 15 tracks, delivering tightly interlocking syllables over grandiose production, spanning juke, soul, boom bap and, of course, Atlanta’s signature trap sound. He even sings in Spanish at one point.
Lyrics, meanwhile, chart his journey to becoming such a keenly optimised rap machine, from writing early bars on his Dominoes timesheet, to cutting his teeth in his local open mic, to grappling with the contradictions of the American Dream. “God gives the heaviest loads to the strongest soldiers”, he raps on “Of Blue (with Mereba)”, summing up the underlying message of the project.
While this belief might have been affirmed by faith, it is rooted in the deeply political history of his Atlanta hometown. “It’s a Black city, with a history of pain but also prominence,” he explains, turning his attention to the Vince Staples-assisted track “VCR”. The track opens with a reference to the tragic tale of Oscarville, a Black town north of Atlanta, which was destroyed by a white mob in the early 20th century before being flooded during the creation of Lake Lanier in the decades following. “That is such a gut-wrenching story, bro. The pungent reek of slavery is still present in Atlanta [today]. It definitely drives me.”
SATIN HEART/ Neri Mastriani-Levi
It’s the weight of this history that drives JID to work overtime until retirement – or so I thought. Because, in the closing moments of our conversation, he throws another curveball: he plans to pass the bar in Atlanta and become a lawyer. “By age 40, I think I’m just going to dial right in,” he explains. “My brother’s been in jail all my life. I want to get into the judicial system and figure it out. I’ve always had good verbiage and dialect, and I would love to get more knowledgeable and work on the case. It’s a mountain to overcome but…” JID shrugs. God might love ugly, but JID certainly makes hard work look effortless.
You’re currently on your Dollar and a Dream tour. What’s the thinking behind this?
JID: It’s just a way to get close to my family, and actually touch them before we do those big tours. It gives us an opportunity to be in control of what we’re charging for each show – because we’re not usually in control of all of that.
Hearing the centrality of struggle to the new project, it made me wonder: do you think the next JID is at one of these shows?
JID: For sure. Somebody way better, actually.
It’s undeniable that you’re one of the most skilled rappers in the world right now. Do you think it was nature or nurture?
JID: Well, I have always been musically inclined. I can draw back to being a kid and hearing a song maybe one or two times, and instantly knowing all the lyrics. I always had a good memory, which was something I was born with. I also always had good verbiage – my father’s a writer, so I got love for language and communication.
What did your father write?
JID: He has some biographies, and some poems that he put together. Not anything huge, but you could maybe find his little book on Amazon or something like that. He is a great writer within himself, even outside of the accolades; he just knows how to write. I think I drew from some of that as well. He used to make up stories for me as a kid.
So, how did you nurture these talents?
JID: When I initially locked in, I was doing three songs a day – verse and a hook. I thought, ‘If I get three songs a day, three different bodies of work, that’ll be the key. That’ll be practical.’
Who is your Mount Rushmore of artists?
JID: We going Outkast at number one. We’re going T.I. We’re going Lil’ Wayne. We’re going Jay-Z. Yukimi Nagano from Little Dragon, and Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys.
Wow, so it’s not just rappers, then?
JID: I’m talking about great writers. Alex Turner is a king. Yukimi Nagano just dropped an album called For You, she is a wizard with writing. These are the people I honour. Outkast, T.I. and Lil’ Wayne are the foundation of who JID is. I know people can get a little, ‘Oh, JID only rap fast’, but it’s so much more subtle on this album.
You want a piece of the American pie? Probably humble you’. That small line is showing you the process of being Black in America
You’ve always had pretty exceptional collaborations, too. Is this something you put a particular focus on?
JID: Yeah, I’m a team player. I played sports. I think community is key to us having a valid body of work. Having different backgrounds and people from different walks of life to help explain one thing is kind of cool.
Speaking of community, many of these collaborations centre on Atlanta. Why do you think that Atlanta has become the hip-hop capital of the world?
JID: It’s a Black city, man, a city of good culture. A history of pain, but prominence. There are lots of different things that Atlanta possesses that you can’t find in most cities. The pungent reek of slavery is still present. If you listen to the song [‘VCR’] with Vince Staples, it speaks to the American experience of the Black man – ‘You want a piece of the American pie? Probably humble you’. That small line is showing you the process of being Black in America – or, not even Black, just a man in America. Vince [Staples] is kind of like my shrink. He’s kind of helped me delve through these issues that I’m speaking to in my verses – police brutality, murders, seeing life through a different light.
Another big element of this album is God. Does faith play a big role in your life?
JID: I’m definitely a spiritual man. Unwavering belief in God. I kind of pandered to it in the title, but I always knew I was going to be speaking only glory. Like, if you listen to “Glory”, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is what the album’s about.
Has your faith ever been tested?
JID: For sure, every day. Being in this industry, people like to play around with demonic tones and all of that, but obviously, I’m not hurt. I just try to stand firm on what I believe in. My life today, even being able to do music, is a testament to my faith being strong.
Finally, random question, but do you know the group Atmosphere? They had an album called God Loves Ugly, too.
JID: Oh, yeah. Between me and you, I’m trying to get them on a remix, like, ‘Oh, you did this first’. I didn’t get the idea from them, but I respect them even phrasing [their album] like that. He can rap, too.
God Does Love Ugly is out now
