It’s crazy to think that J.I.D dropped off his debut studio album The Never Story four years ago to this day, but here we are. With anticipation building for his upcoming project, tentatively titled The Forever Story, the rap game has all but accepted J.I.D as one of the best current lyricists out right now. It’s easy to understand why, given the impression left on tracks like the J. Cole-produced “Lauder,” which held the honor of closing the Atlanta rapper’s debut all those years ago.
Over an ice-cold beat from Dreamville’s own J. Cole, who blesses his signee with one of the spookiest beats of both their respective discographies, J.I.D proceeds to absolutely snap for a total of four straight minutes. Employing the long-lost structure of three verses, J.I.D saves the best for last with one of the album’s most spirited performances. “Let’s get it poppin’, they’re pulling pistols on apostle Paul, So pay the piper or meet the sniper, legend of the fall,” he spits, all but foaming at the mouth. “I knew in diapers you and I was nothing alike at all / I do or die, you do it to die, I’m really making calls.”
There’s a reason many hold J.I.D in high esteem, and given that he was already firing on this level on his debut album, one has to wonder how far he can ascend. Revisit this gem now, and keep an eye out for what J.I.D is cooking up next.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
Let’s get it poppin’, they’re pulling pistols on apostle Paul
So pay the piper or meet the sniper, legend of the fall
I knew in diapers you and I was nothing alike at all
I do or die, you do it to die, I’m really making calls
You couldn’t kill it and take it out of me, the ideology
This the odyssey, I’m Odysseus, you gotta follow me
Watch how I maneuver, I influence the influencers
The flow is like a fluent influenza going through the motion