God Does Like Ugly
There was a time when Dreamville’s talented artist roster seemed destined to remain perpetually in J. Cole’s formidable shadow. Yet those who followed the Atlanta-raised JID from his mixtape days and the Spillage Village *Bears Like This* era had to know he couldn’t be contained for long. Some three years after his ambitious and acclaimed *The Forever Story*—and just over a month since the guest-laden *GDLU (Preluxe)* EP—his fourth solo album obviously comes with heightened fan expectations. Borrowing its title from his late grandmother’s clever turn of phrase, *God Does Like Ugly* finds the technically proficient MC up for the existential challenge. The unmistakable sound of Westside Gunn’s assertive bellows introduce the tremulous “YouUgly,” in which JID assails sales-obsessed fandoms while puffing out his chest and stacking his checks. Immediately afterwards, he’s officially back in his storytelling bag for “Glory,” an uproarious gospel variant with heavyweight production by Beatnick Dee and Lex Luger. Those narrative gifts of his persist on tracks like “Of Blue” and the dark yet peppy “Sk8,” building upon the solid foundation of tales told in his catalog thus far. Elsewhere, he’s detailing a Machiavellian come-up plot on the motivational “WRK” and defeating self-doubt with gratitude on the uplifting closer “For Keeps.” Of course, JID’s guest list is stacked, with masterful rappers like Vince Staples and virtuosos like Thundercat in the mix. Yet even amid a Clipse posse cut like “Community” and momentous duets like “No Boo,” the consistently bold *God Does Like Ugly* stays undeniably his own.
JID's long-teased follow-up to 'The Forever Story' is often stunted by tedious, if not well-intentioned material. But it’s far from a total collapse.