“Security, check this out.”
This ‘East Atlanta playboy’ momentarily halted this incandescent show upon arrival to Kentish Town’s frayed doors - for the sake of a crowd member’s safety.
During this wildly sold-out show showcasing J.I.D’s breakout sophomore LP based on his infatuation of the infamous actor, DiCaprio 2, the lauded rapper duly paid his respect to the London’s crowd’s reciprocated enthusiasm in reciting an intense set of solo work, as well as various hits from his supergroup’s work, Dreamville. Between the haziness of his ‘jittery’, fast-paced rapping, to the fainting of crowd members amidst the venue's intensely encompassing heat, would any of us be able to make it through to the end?
Emphatically, yes, evidently I made it out alive and luckily unscathed - burrowed in the natural aisles of the venue with a favourable onlooking view of the abrasive crowd worshipping J.I.D. From the inception of tonight’s set with his breakout single ‘Lauder’, to the concluding track of ‘151 Rum’, this sold-out audience were enticed by this rapper’s ‘jittery’ flow - aptly described by his grandmother and duly incorporated into his stage name. Offering jolting, bassier beats to underline his biting flow, J.I.D relentlessly pounded the Kentish Town Forum’s pavement, seamlessly fitting multiple words into a matter of split seconds.
Invariably, the variation of stylistics surrounding his musical repertoire also became apparent through his sophomore LP’s excavation - namely from such tracks as ‘Workin Out’ and ‘Off Deez’. With the former’s softer, ballad-R&B facade to the latter’s engrossing off-beat guitar riffs spurring an abrasive fracas within the crowd, J.I.D contained much of everything to this recent hip-hop world within tonight’s crucible.
With the auditory introduction of his fellow rapper J.Cole in the previous track, the natural evolution into Dreamville’s discography seemed inevitable as the numerous recent hits of this supergroup consisted of ‘Down Bad’, ‘Wells Fargo’ and ‘Costa Rica’. With equally frenetic and enticing production similar to that of other contemporary boy bands Brockhampton and Odd Future, the upbeat and chaotic sheen to these tracks carried the mid-section of tonight’s set well into the culmination of this Friday night ecstasy.
Miraculously, each one of us (it’s believed) made it out of this venue generally unscathed and rather beaming at the thought of what was just witnessed for the past hour - an fierce fracas revelling in the triumphant return of this ‘East Atlanta playboy’. With some critics likening his rapping flow and velocity to that of Kendrick Lamar, this particular contrast does make the lack of instrumentals evident within J.I.D’s work. Perhaps something to be explored in the future, yet this rapper’s natural knack to knock others over with his engrossing flows and bars is something to behold - even if this set of security may not agree.
8/10
J.I.D's latest LP, DiCaprio 2, is out now and can be found here.
All photos are courtesy of Jason Barroso whose work can be found here.
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