Following the release of his new album The Forever Story, Atlanta rapper JID sat down with Ebro Darden to talk about the importance of paying respect to the rappers who came before him.
While JID explores many different sounds on his latest record, he told Darden that it’s integral to pay homage to hip-hop’s OGs. “I try to do my due diligence when checking off those little hip-hop purist boxes,” he said. “When I’m making a song, whatever. I always want to show love back to where it came from, the origin of it. That’s why we sample certain songs. That’s why we try to pay that homage back and even try to rap with some of the older OGs that’s still kicking flavor. I know father time is a motherfucker, but there’s still some n***as out there kicking flavor.”
Of course, the Dreamville rapper isn’t just interested in the past of hip-hop. He’s also invested in its future, too.
“I love all the sub genres of hip-hop, all the new stuff. I love the NY drill scene right now,” he continued. “I love them sampling these big ass pop songs. Love that shit, and then I just be trying to represent my city. Georgia, Atlanta. I just try and put that on the map and make sure I pull somebody up along with it because that’s how Atlanta is Doing well, because we help everybody.We help each other.”
Speaking of OGs, one of the biggest names on The Forever Story is Yasiin Bey, fka Mos Def, who JID said has served as a massive inspiration for him.
“He’s just been a big inspiration for forever. One of my favorite artists of all time and he stands for something so I always took heed to that,” he said. “Just him even saying he wanted to do it, him respecting the art and just showing love to the future generation, that’s what I got to do. This is where I want to be, in that light and I just respect it. That shit crazy to me too, bro. Him even being on the album.
Check out the exclusive clips from the interview above, and look out for the full interview on Apple Music at 4:30 p.m. ET.