Slow down. Slow down. Slow the fuck down. J.I.D. spits fast on DiCaprio 2, but not always fast. He can slow and slur when the time is right. He’s not a tongue twister rapper. He’s just got a ton of ideas he needs to push out, all at once. The rhymes come fast and furious, from boasts to jokes to some deeper shit about praying and God not listening…And the music keeps shifting tempo, so I can’t find my feet…This mixtape is so dense my poor brain can’t keep up.
Atlanta’s J.I.D. is almost 30, and he’s arriving at a place where he might become one of the greatest rappers alive. He understands the genre, and can pull out all that it has to offer.
I don’t usually like the little clips some rappers stuff between tracks on their mixtapes, but some of J.I.D.’s are pretty fucking funny (especially when he teases his label’s owner, J. Cole, for borrowing someone’s phone charger). And they make sense here because he’s making a true concept mixtape. He tells stories. He offers wisdom. But mostly, he’s in control, like a great film director or an athlete in his prime. J.I.D. always knows where he’s going, even if the listener can’t possibly predict it.
