2023 reissue - It only takes one listen of J.I.D’s The Never Story to realize why J. Cole and the good people at Dreamville decided to add him to their illustrious roster. The East Atlanta spitter’s lyric-driven rap style is basically contemporary counterculture in the South; something that J. Cole himself dealt with during his slow-burning come up. In most cases these days, making out of the Atlanta scene might be easier than in most places Hip Hop hotbeds but to do so without touching a trap beat or messing with multiple layers of Auto-Tune is always impressive — or at least impressive enough to earn a Dreamville contract.
J.I.D brings a certain amount of bounce to this project but J. Cole’s conscious recluse blueprint is followed to a tee. After a brief one-minute motivational gospel croon, J.I.D puts that rap hat on and gets to work. There’s a mix of character development and aimless hater checking on “General” but a proof of talent nonetheless. “Even before grades, going to my brother court dates/And I asked my momma bout what he did but they’d never tell me/Then I figured he killed a nigga or got caught for some dope he selling” provides a dark yet discerning look into his upbringing – which then makes the unreceptive vibe of “Swear your raps so boring, nigga/Then you say you trap, you be lying nigga/I don’t fuck with none of y’all happy trappers” make a little more sense.
| A1 | Doo Wop |
| A2 | General |
| A3 | NEVER |
| A4 | EdEddnEddy |
| A5 | D/vision |
| A6 | Hereditary |
| B1 | All Bad |
| B2 | Underwear |
| B3 | 8701 |
| B4 | Hoodbooger |
| B5 | Somebody |
| B6 | LAUDER |
