JID‘s God Does Like Ugly extends Southern rap’s custom of exposing the struggles of younger Black males beneath the Mason-Dixon. In a current Advanced interview, the Atlanta rapper took the time to clarify the origin of his title: “In 2019, my grandmother handed,” he mentioned. “However earlier than this, I keep in mind simply talking to her; it was one thing loopy happening, a world incidence or one thing. And shawty was like, ‘God does like ugly, letting all this [happen].’ After which she was like, ‘It’s best to identify this your album.’”
JID has been engaged on the album since 2020, and lots of of those tracks got here from a spot of ache. On prime of his grandmother’s passing, JID suffered further losses in his shut circle. He additionally grew to become a father, an expertise that provided the Dreamville MC a chance to swing again on the pendulum of mortality. JID’s grandmother’s phrases set the compass for God Does Like Ugly, an exploration of how pleasure and anguish can exist in the identical breath.
Working the gamut of sonic approaches, JID takes on heavenly, soul-stirring soundscapes (“Glory”), amped-up, motivational manufacturing custom-made for the health club (“WRK”), and darkish, ambling beats that call to mind a unending march towards understanding oneself (“Group”). JID ties all of it along with irrepressible vitality and boundless dedication.
“Glory” is the only clear monitor on the album, and it options vocals from a little-known choir from Memphis, Tennessee that prayed over JID after clearing their pattern. On the propulsive, gospel-tinged track, produced by Beatnick Dee and Lex Luger, JID delicately unfurls the story of his older brother who’s serving time in jail, one other supply of grief.
“Breaking guidelines, skipping college, pulling fireplace alarms/ Received with a crew, made a truce, an alliance was shaped/ Received a instrument, begin taking pictures, then the violence was born/ The world spinning as he look into the attention of the storm.” JID makes use of the carry of the instrumentation to ship one among his most direct, emotionally clear verses, all in honor of his brother.
Arguably the most popular rappers of the summer time, Clipse be part of JID on “Group,” a intestine punch in track kind that exposes the hardships Black Individuals should endure. The beat is heavy-lidded, layered with unsettling harmonies, dense drums, and low-pitched vocal fragments that really feel like they’ve been pulled from a DJ Screw tape. By no means one to draw back from exalting the ATLiens who preceded him, JID takes on the animated urgency of Outkast and Goodie Mob in his verse, rapping emphatically about his considerations — as a rapper, and as a person. After wrapping up his verse with recollections of his hardened experiences in Virginia, the house state of Clipse, JID guides the duo in, the place they wreak havoc in the most effective methods. “The residences, the initiatives, the ghettos, all the identical shit,” Pusha T raps. “Loopy how we hopscotch and double-dutch hazard/ Between ADHD and all of the tablets that you simply gave us/ How we alleged to course of this anger?”
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Malice acts because the conscience of the track, his phrases touchdown like ultimate blows within the eerie ether as he concludes “Group” with a salient reflection: “Part 8 dwelling, we deal with it like a timeshare/ Mom, auntie, cousin, couldn’t let you know who reside there/ However by no means seen a father that was government-devised right here/ Conquer and divide right here, crash and collide right here/ When kings can’t increase a younger prince, the doves cry right here.” As spectacular of a lyricist as JID is, he will get outshined by his visitors — which for a lot of, could be an honor.
Conceptually, God Does Like Ugly expresses the various problems of continually dwelling life in survival mode. JID finds widespread floor with Lengthy Seaside rapper Vince Staples on “VCRs,” as the 2 MCs rap about environmental pressures, societal inequalities, and ways of perseverance. The Jay Versace-helmed manufacturing is deceptively mild; lush flurries of guitar and pitter-pattering drums give the monitor a breezy basis because the rappers clarify how pursuing the American Dream leaves few unscathed.
Covertly counting all through their verses, the pair finds house to play, at the same time as they focus on heavy topics. “Only a casualty of the warfare, it goes one, two,” Staples spits. “Three, five-seven snub hanging out the window/ 4-door Jeep experience, stole it off Obispo.” JID and Vince Staples are two of probably the most unnervingly trustworthy artists in hip-hop, each able to spinning colourful tales out of the darkest recollections. Their synthesized authenticity makes for a sobering listening expertise, made much more potent by their pointed bars.