It’s been almost three years since Dreamville’s resident verbal gymnast J.I.D dropped The Forever Story, and fans have been pacing the floor ever since, waiting for another classic. The drought may finally be over—and if early signs are anything to go by, this next one isn’t so much a sequel as it is a full-blown villain origin story.
Let’s rewind to 2022: J.I.D briefly revealed that his next album would be titled God.Does.Like.Ugly, then deleted it like we live in a world where digital footprints can be erased. Around the same time, he warned fans that his next drop wouldn’t be so “wholesome.” Which makes sense—this is the same year he racked up more features than a rap nerd’s dream playlist (see: Denzel Curry’s “Ain’t No Way” and EARTHGANG’s “WATERBOYZ”).
Flash forward to 2025, and J.I.D’s finally embracing his darker impulses—proudly entering what we’ll call his “rap game antihero” era.
It’s time to “WRK”
In March, a lucky crowd in Paris got a sneak peek at the new album during a private listening party, and the reviews were basically five stars and tears.
“He put his heart into his next project. Intentional features that work too well, he takes his writing seriously. There’s a lot of duality in the themes, it’s as introspective as it is competitive,” one attendee recapped.
Then on April 6, while performing at Dreamville Festival, J.I.D gave the crowd an exclusive taste of the lead single of the album (with Metro Boomin credits) titled “WRK.” Later that month on April 15, he posted the official snippet of the track along with what to expect from his “new journey.”
Referencing the album The Forever Story, the rapper said that he remembered “not feeling like I got what I think I deserved after that album came out and it sent me into a dark place (for maybe 20 mins cus I ain’t no b*****). Fast forward to Pluss playing this beat for me in the studio, and all I could hear was my OG coach saying ‘Let’s go to WORK.’ I live my life by the saying ‘You can only control what you can control.’ So this is the first step into a new world that I control. And. It’s. F*******. UGLY,” he said.
The track officially dropped days later on April 18 with production credits from Pluss (who’s also behind production for “Down Bad”) and Christo (who’s part of the production team for “Under the Sun”). However, there was still much more to come.
‘God Does Like Ugly’ might be another classic
On May 8, J.I.D dropped a trailer that looked like Mad Max: Dreamville Edition and officially confirmed that God Does Like Ugly is set to arrive on August 8. The album will have 15 tracks and, if the early material is anything to go by, absolutely zero filler. As for the cover art? That placeholder floating around on Apple Music and Spotify? Don’t worry — J.I.D already confirmed that’s not the real thing.
The good news doesn’t stop there, though: the rapper continued his freestyle series and dropped number “32” to the beat of Carti’s “HBA” along with the track “BEAU.” They will both be featured on the GDLU Preluxe, dropping just in time on July 4, with the rest of the tracklist still under wraps.
If you weren’t convinced this album rollout was turning into a full cinematic universe, J.I.D also linked up with Offset for the track “Bodies,” further proving that he’s deep in his trap bag right now — and not interested in crawling out of it anytime soon.
Between the sharp pen, the unhinged energy, and the “control-your-own-narrative” attitude, J.I.D isn’t just back — he’s building a world. And based on what we’ve heard so far, it’s loud, it’s layered, and yeah… it’s ugly in the best way possible.
