By Giacomo Kuzma, Hip-hop/Rap Columnist
Emcee J.I.D’s debut album “The Never Story” was released March 10, 2017 via Dreamville Records. It’s October now, but “The Never Story” proved to be such a good album that it needs some recognition.
J.I.D has been active since 2010, working closely with his fellow members of the Atlanta-based group Spillage Village and being frequently featured in the music of Spillage Village’s offshoot-duo, EarthGang.
J.I.D’s EP, “DiCaprio,” released Jan. 26, 2015, marked his first solo project. “DiCaprio” is a great EP. If you liked what you heard from him in Spillage Village, with EarthGang and on “DiCaprio,” then “The Never Story” will deliver.
“[The] ‘DiCaprio’ EP was only a flex of skills. Less writing, more creativity — a memory-based project if you will,” says J.I.D’s description of the EP on the music platform SoundCloud.
“While they were sitting on they hands, I was standin’ and plottin’/When I be in my own world, the whole world’s forgotten,” J.I.D raps in the song “LeTrow,” from “DiCaprio.”
Hip-hop podcast host Kyle Kramer of VICE music platform Noisey described J.I.D as a “soft-spoken but intricate lyricist with a cocky side” in response to the “DiCaprio.” J.I.D’s latest release demonstrates both skill and artistic development since his 2015 EP.
“The Never Story” takes a slightly adjusted angle from “DiCaprio.” While maintaining a calm and soothing energy in songs “EdEddnEddy,” “All Bad” (accompanied by the beautiful vocals of Mereba) and “Somebody,” J.I.D adds a striking note of menace and ferocity with songs “General,” “NEVER” and “LAUDER.”
As he asserts and accuses in “LAUDER,” “Okay, I told motherf***ers I was sick as a b***h/The dopest dope you smoke gon’ get you a whiff/Watch how these n****s flip the script with the flick of their wrist/Southern lyricists don’t exist like my flow is a myth.”
“The Never Story” also serves as J.I.D’s momentous attempt to redefine Southern rap. Coming from East Atlanta, J.I.D doesn’t praise the trap-scene of the South as Future, Gucci Mane and 21 Savage do.
“When I grew up, drug dealers and people who was doing illegal stuff to get money, I never saw it as like a glorified thing,” J.I.D. said in an interview with Rolling Stone’s Jazz Cartier. “[Trapping/drug dealing] was always means to a better way; to feed your family.”
J.I.D has a do-what-you-gotta-do mentality on the subject, feeling it’s a necessity for some, but not supporting the over-glorification of the lifestyle.
J.I.D also doesn’t approve of the simplicity and hit-song-focus in a lot of Southern rap. J.I.D’s here to show the South has more to give.
“The Never Story” comes as a renaissance armed with sharp lyrics, tuneful execution and heavy boom-bap, a production style pertaining to drums. The almost spastic flows and rhythms J.I.D deploys — fluttering through varying tempos with dexterity and subtlety — are beautiful and effortless.
“I’m from the era of real sh*t; kill-or-be-killed sh*t/Killer bee; real quick, float like butterfly/Sting like killer bee, flow worth kilograms, you n****s killin’ me/Thinkin’ you ill as me, what’s sh*t to a enema?/Enemy, anyone, get at me, I’m the epitome,” raps J.I.D in his Funk Flex freestyle.
Though I prefer not to compare artists unless it’s apparent to the point of unoriginality, his delivery can resemble that of Kendrick Lamar’s to some, while his voice is reminiscent of the soulful Anderson .Paak’s to others. Fans of either may find a taste for J.I.D, as will followers of Spillage Village and EarthGang.
J.I.D’s debut offers the point of view of someone who “never had a real dollar to [his] name,” and never expected more.
“The Never Story” is the introduction and declaration of J.I.D as the newest edge of the South. J.I.D’s potential has never been greater — with this album he asserts Southern dominance on a par with the likes of OutKast, J. Cole, Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., Jay Electronica and Lil Wayne. As he reminds in “NEVER,” “You know I came from the dirt like a sandstorm . . . ”
I strongly suggest this to anyone.
While I find nothing to truly criticize about “The Never Story,” I don’t praise it as a hip-hop masterpiece. J.I.D surpassed his artist-peers in talent, but he can do more — he can push the envelope further. I eagerly look forward to his potential mastery as I continue to enjoy J.I.D’s sound debut.
3.5 out of 5 stars