An extremely well-rounded rap project showcasing JID’s wealth of talent through a plethora of mediums.
Georgia-based artist JID is back with his third full length LP titled ‘The Forever Story’. It comes as the sequel to his first album ‘The Never Story’ and contains 15 tracks for a total runtime of just under an hour.
To say the least, this project is amazing. It has everything you look for in a rap project and more. Every track keeps listeners on the edge of their seats with frequent beat switches, perfectly curated features, and amazing group vocals across the album.
You simply can’t talk about JID without mentioning his mastery of wordplay and flow creativity. The bars on this project and frankly throughout his career are absolutely top notch. His calm and cool delivery is easy to listen to and it’s difficult to even describe how unique and ingenious his lyrics are.
Off of ‘Kody Blue 31’:
“Somebody told me when I was small
that the pride cometh right before the fall.
God son died for us all.
So for mine, I’m running through a wall.”
Or especially in ‘Dance Now’:
“Momma said the Messiah’s in moccasins.
Tryna save the kids in them apartments and
show a way to live with other options.
Opulence, decadence, black excellence and lots of it.”
As for his flow creativity, JID has such a good sense of what flow will sound best at what time on which song. He has a seemingly bottomless vault of flows at his disposal and it seems he comes up with new ones daily. It’s certainly refreshing to hear such creativity in hip-hop and JID is most definitely a leading pioneer for the genre currently.
In an interview for Apple Music JID talks about the idea of ‘The Forever Story’ being symbolic of the seemingly unending systematic oppression faced by African-Americans, his family included. Throughout the album he raps about the injustices he’s faced but how ultimately, the overlying theme is overcoming these through sticking together as a family and remaining true to where you came from.
A beautiful instance of this is the beginning of the track ‘Kody Blu 31’ where JID samples a clip of his father singing a gospel song at his grandmother’s funeral. It’s a touching example of the richness and depth of JID’s music and his excellence as an artist. Not to mention we get some genuinely good vocals from JID as he opens singing the chorus; just another addition to his wealth of talent.
Features come at just the right times and serve to coincide and promote JID rather than him crowd out. Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) and Earthgang standout with prominent contributions. Both acts have advanced lyrical skills which flourish alongside JID’s own and the excellent production on both tracks demonstrates JID’s skill in bringing out the best in the artists he collaborates with.
Ari Lennox delivers a smooth and airy performance on ‘Can’t Make U Change’ which is then capped out with a stellar verse from JID.
The only thing missing really would be a feature from J Cole. JID is signed to Cole’s Dreamville records (along with Ari Lennox and Earthgang as well) and the two have linked up several times in the past. Fans were expecting another hit from the two yet JID chose a different direction here. Considering how good the album is, it’s not a major loss but it would have certainly been the icing on the cake.
Nonetheless, this album is filled with creative lyrics, unique production and superb features that really serve to demonstrate JID’s growth and evolution as an artist. Chart performance may not reflect it, but JID is fast becoming one of hip-hop’s best and brightest. ‘The Forever Story’ will certainly age well and is yet another classic on JID’s discography.