God Does Like Ugly
Following the release of the preluxe on July 4th, JID returns after three years with an album of strong, conscious themes, ranging from the difficulties of urban life to the search for life's deeper meaning. In 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺, the protagonist of the narrative is his older brother, his relationship with prison and street life, and thus the institutional, moral, and religious issues focused on by JID. Notably, there is a tension here between the glory given to God and its redemptive nature in the first verse, and the room for agency that a man has when dealing with systemic traps: “𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥'𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 / 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘐'𝘮𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴”. In 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, featuring Pusha T and No Malice, the track calls for a refocusing of attention on socially relevant themes: “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘧 / 𝘈𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵”. A standout track is certainly 𝘖𝘧 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, where the MC interacts with God, attempting to understand His most significant aspects through his own personal experience. This experience is defined by the recurring cycle of “𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦-𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢, 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴”, where the sinner, he tells us in the end, is destined to repent and then repeat the same mistakes. In an environment devoid of certainty, following false idols is a likely error: “𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭 / 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯' 𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭”. Like Moses and David, JID accepts his vocation, while fully embracing his human fragility: “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 / 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 [...] 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯' 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵”.
Mattia
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