JID has offered an update on his eagerly anticipated new album while shutting down claims that Hip Hop is struggling.
The Dreamville rapper performed at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday (May 18) in the build-up to the Oleksandr Usyk’s victory against fellow boxing heavyweight Tyson Fury, which was watched by millions around the world.
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Following the big performance, JID took to Instagram on Tuesday (May 21) to reveal that his album will be dropping once he’s finished touring this summer.
He also cited his pre-fight performance, which saw him suspended above the ring in a glass box, as proof that rap music is “alive and well,” contradicting claims made in recent weeks by the likes of Questlove.
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“Finally back from Saudi Arabia and I’m just here to say it’s so much behind the scenes/ in front of the scene work that goes in to each step of this shit and I am Truly Humble under God (Free thug) for the people that help contribute to executing this amazing event,” he wrote.
“A n-gga was 100 feet in the Air rapping bout some n-gga Shit. Hip Hop is alive and well (album after tour).”
JID is currently opening for 21 Savage on his American Dream Tour, which also features support from Nardo Wick and 21 Lil Harold.
The 30-date North American trek kicked off at the beginning of May and wraps up on June 15 in 21 and JID’s hometown of Atlanta.
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The “Surround Sound” star then has two shows in Chicago and Milwaukee on June 16 and July 6, respectively, so it’s safe to assume that his new album will arrive sometime after that.
JID revealed the title of the project, Forever & A Day, last summer, continuing the theme of 2022’s The Forever Story and his 2017 debut The Never Story.
He has also been teasing a joint project with arguably rap’s premiere hitmaker, Metro Boomin.
Last year, the 33-year-old earned high praise from another Hip Hop heavyweight when Big Boi credited him with making him “want to rap.”
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“I hear somebody like you and I’m like, ‘Yeah, boy. He get it.’ I love MCs who are not just rapping, but they’re saying stuff at the same time,” the OutKast legend told JID during a “musician on musician” interview for Rolling Stone.
“To me, being an MC, hearing JID’s music makes me want to rap. That’s that shit.”
