Dreamville Artist JID Drops New Album 'God Does Like Ugly'

On Friday, JID, stage name for Atlanta-born rapper Destin Choice Route, released his fourth studio album, “God Does Like Ugly,” through Dreamville and Interscope Records. The 15-track project highlights the Atlanta rapper’s diverse signature wordplay, jazz-fused heavy hitting beats and soulful melodies.

“God Does Like Ugly” follows JID’s latest project, “The Forever Story,” that came out in 2022. This new project, executive produced by longtime collaborator Christo, spans through fervent themes and the artist’s personal reflection of his life.

The album also includes features from several industry heavy-hitters. Westside Gunn opens the album with booming energy. Other features include Earthgang, a rap duo also under Dreamville Records. Clipse’s Pusha-T and Malice leave a powerful, heavy feature on the song “Community.” Vince Staples, Ty Dolla $ign, 6lack and Ciara can also be heard throughout the project amongst many others.

Atlanta rap influences are also prevalent through the project, especially on the track “Sk8,” and including features from other ATL acts such as Baby Kia and Marco Plus.

JID told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the album title is a twist on the phrase “God doesn’t like ugly,” he often heard from his late grandmother (who also influenced his stage name because of his “jittery” mood).

“This (album) is how I’m seeing the world. It’s my perspective. And maybe y’all grab something from it. Maybe you don’t. But this is literally just my baby, and it’s like a part one,” JID said in the interview. “…[‘God Does Like Ugly’] is like a go ball. In football, the go ball is when the quarterback drops wider on the outside and throws it as deep as he can and sees what happens. Hail Mary type s**t. But it’s not like all is lost if you drop it. It’s just, ‘I’m about to go and make a play.’ This is me making a play.”

JID said that a follow-up to “God Does Like Ugly” is reportedly in the works.