Nearly four years ago, the frighteningly talented Atlanta rapper JID released his hugely promising full-length DiCaprio 2. Since then, JID hasn’t released anything resembling an album, but his career has continued to grow anyway. JID stands out on posse cuts from crews like Dreamville and Spillage Village, both of which count him as a member, and he’s been annihilating every guest verse he’s attempted, including his spot on Imagine Dragons’ “Enemy,” the hit theme song from the Netflix show Arcane. Later this month, JID — who has apparently dropped the two random-ass periods from his name — will finally come out with The Forever Story, his long-awaited new LP.
We don’t yet know too much about The Forever Story, but the pre-order link is up now. That means that we now get to see the album’s cover art, and we know that it’s 15 songs long, though we only know about two of those songs. One Forever Story track is “Surround Sound,” the excellent 21 Savage/Baby Tate collab that JID released at the beginning of the year. The other is “Dance Now,” the new single that JID just dropped today.
“Dance Now,” like “Surround Sound,” is a nice indicator of what JID can do. JID recorded the track with longtime collaborator Christo, and it’s got a big, clomping beat with a weirdly catchy looped melody. JID raps all over it, his flow reaching unstable speed-levels but never tripping over his own complicated patterns. He sounds playful and energized. The song’s got a hook from JID’s fellow Atlanta rapper Kenny Mason, and Foushée, the ascendant alt-soul singer, adds backup vocals. Good song! If the whole album sounds like this and “Surround Sound,” we could be looking at something really special. The “Dance Now” video is coming out later today, but for right now, you can hear the song below.
The Forever Story is out 8/26 on Dreamville/Interscope. Pre-order it here.
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