JID

Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2017. He formed the musical collective Spillage Village with EarthGang in 2010, and later formed the hip hop group, Zoink Gang with Smino, Buddy, and Guapdad 4000. His fluent rapping style and usage of wordplay has been highly acclaimed by several music critics.

JID gained recognition after releasing several independent projects, including Route of Evil (2012), Para Tu (2013) and DiCaprio (2015). His debut studio album, The Never Story (2017) was met with critical acclaim and contained the single "Never". His second album, DiCaprio 2 (2018) was supported by the singles "151 Rum" and "Off Deez" (with J. Cole), and saw continued critical acclaim. His 2021 single, "Enemy" (with Imagine Dragons) peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song. His third album, The Forever Story (2022) received further acclaim and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200; it spawned the top 40 single "Surround Sound" (featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate).

Early life
Destin Choice Route was born October 31, 1990, in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Carl Louis Route Jr. and Kathy Jean Route. The youngest of seven children, he adopted the moniker JID from his grandmother's nickname for him based on his "jittery" behavior. Route grew up listening to Sly and the Family Stone and Earth, Wind & Fire before shifting to the 1990s New York hip-hop scene and rappers such as Jay-Z, Nas and Mobb Deep. He attended Stephenson High School, where he played football as a defensive back. During his senior year he dislocated his hip. He later accepted a full athletic scholarship to play NCAA Division I football at Hampton University. Route was redshirted his first year of eligibility and then played two seasons before he was kicked from the team for skipping practices. Route eventually moved in with Doctur Dot and Johnny Venus, a popular rap duo with the stage name EarthGang who he met while at school in Virginia.

2010–2016: Career beginnings
JID released his first mixtape Cakewalk on May 18, 2010. Earlier that year, he formed Spillage Village with EarthGang, Hollywood JB, and Jordxn Bryant. He released his second mixtape, Cakewalk 2 on June 29, 2011. He released his third mixtape, Route of All Evil on June 25, 2012, with guest features from relatively unheard artists EarthGang and Stillz. JID funded his music career with jobs at call centers and delivering pizza before he started to get booked for local live shows. On October 22, 2013, his next mixtape was released titled Para Tu. The mixtape was later re-released on December 29, 2017.

In 2014, he opened up with EarthGang and Bas on Ab-Soul's These Days Tour following the release of Spillage Village's first collaboration project, Bears Like This. On January 26, 2015, he released his first extended play DiCaprio EP. On July 6, Spillage Village released their second collaboration project Bears Like This Too. He also toured with Omen on the Elephant Eyes Tour and Bas on the Too High to Riot Tour. On December 2, 2016, Spillage Village released Bears Like This Too Much with features from J. Cole and Bas, and production from Mac Miller, Ducko Mcfli, Childish Major and J. Cole among others.

2017: The Never Story
On February 20, 2017, it was announced that he had signed to J. Cole's Dreamville label, first releasing the single "Never". The full-length album, The Never Story was released on March 10, 2017. The album includes guest features from EarthGang, 6LACK, and Mereba, and production from J. Cole, Hollywood JB, Christo and Childish Major, among others. He later released three more music videos from the album: "D/vision", "Hereditary", and "EdEddnEddy".

He was also an opening act on the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour in 2017 in the North American and European legs. On October 10, JID appeared alongside rappers Cozz, Kodie Shane and Ali Tomineek in a cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards. In November 2017, JID co-headlined in his Never Had Shit Tour with EarthGang, and guests Lute, Chaz French, and Mereba. It included 15 dates in North America, and continued in 2018, with 19 dates in Europe. On December 13, JID appeared on a remix with Foster The People and Saba called "Pay The Man".

2018–2020: DiCaprio 2
In June 2018, he was featured on the cover of ''XXL's 2018 Freshman Class.  In July, he was featured on Denzel Curry's "Sirens" from Ta13oo'', and was announced he would go on tour with Mac Miller and Thundercat. However, the tour was cancelled due to the passing of Mac Miller. The first single for his second album was released on September 18, titled "151 Rum". On October 3, 2018, JID premiered the song "Working Out" on A COLORS SHOW. On his birthday, his second album DiCaprio 2 was announced for a release date of November 26, 2018, and revealed the tracklist soon after. The album's second official single, "Off Deez" featuring J. Cole, was released on November 6. Other collaborators on the album include A$AP Ferg, 6LACK, Ella Mai, BJ the Chicago Kid, Method Man and Joey Bada$, with production mainly coming from his in-house team of Christo, Hollywood JB, J. Cole and Elite, among others.

DiCaprio 2 was released on November 26, 2018, to positive reviews and critical acclaim. JID announced the first leg of his headlining Catch Me If You Can tour, which included 34 dates, beginning in January 2019. The supporting acts were revealed to be Reason, Hardo, and Lou The Human. On February 9, JID's show in Ithaca, New York was shut down by the police due to a visible crack forming in the ceiling underneath the venue where the concert was held. On February 12, 2019, JID announced the second leg of his Catch Me If You Can tour. The tour did include 26 dates that started in May, and featured supporting acts Saba, Deante' Hitchcock, and Mereba.

In 2019, JID was part of the Dreamville compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III. The singles "Down Bad" and "Costa Rica" were certified gold by the RIAA. In 2020, as part of Spillage Village, he was featured on the singles "End of Daze" and "Baptize", for their fourth collective album Spilligion.

2021–present: The Forever Story and Metro Boomin collaborative album
JID was featured on Doja Cat's song "Options", included on her Grammy-nominated third album, Planet Her. He later collaborated with Imagine Dragons on the mega-hit "Enemy"; it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his highest charting song.

JID teased his third album, The Forever Story, throughout 2021. The first and lead single from the album, "Surround Sound" featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate, was released on January 14, 2022. On March 31, he appeared on the Dreamville compilation D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape, on the songs "Stick" and "Barry From Simpson". On August 9, JID released the second single from The Forever Story, titled "Dance Now", with Kenny Mason.

The Forever Story was released on August 26, 2022, including guest appearances from Kenny Mason, EarthGang, 21 Savage, Baby Tate, Lil Durk, Ari Lennox, Yasiin Bey, Lil Wayne, Johntá Austin, Ravyn Lenae and Eryn Allen Kane.

On September 8, 2022, JID performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

On March 28, 2023, American record producer Metro Boomin posted a picture on Twitter that had JID and Metro Boomin in a studio working on music, with the caption "Got a lot of new music coming but when me and @JIDsv drop" JID then would later confirm that he and Metro are working on a collaborative album.

On September 1, 2023, JID released his third EP titled "Blakkboyz present Half Doin Dope/Van Gogh", featuring Lil Yachty and BabyTron.

On October 13, 2023, JID was featured on Westside Gunn's song "Mamas PrimeTime," along with Conway the Machine off of Gunn's fifth studio album And Then You Pray for Me.

On November 9th, 2023, JID was featured on the opening of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

On July 12th, 2024, JID was featured on Eminem's song "Fuel" off of his 12th album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).

Influences
Growing up, JID's first connection with music was through his parents' collection of classic funk and soul LPs. He names Lil Wayne, Sly and the Family Stone, D'Angelo, Wu-Tang Clan, boom bap, Jay-Z, Earl Sweatshirt  and Little Dragon as his biggest influences.

He has also expressed admiration for fellow Atlanta natives OutKast, Goodie Mob, Gucci Mane and T.I and names them as great influences.

Studio albums

 * The Never Story (2017)
 * DiCaprio 2 (2018)
 * The Forever Story (2022)
 * Forever & A Day (2024)

Collaborative albums

 * Revenge of the Dreamers 3 (2019)
 * Spilligion (with Spillage Village and EarthGang) (2020)
 * D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape (2022)
 * JIDTRO (with Metro Boomin) (2024)

Tours
Headlining
 * Never Had Shit Tour (with EarthGang) (2017–18)
 * Catch Me If You Can Tour (2019)
 * Luv Is 4ever Tour (with Smino) (2023)

Supporting
 * Elephant Eyes Tour (Omen) (2015)
 * Too High To Riot Tour (Bas) (2016)
 * I Told You Tour (Tory Lanez) (2016)
 * 4 Your Eyez Only Tour (J. Cole) (2017)
 * The Swimming Tour (Mac Miller) (2018; cancelled)
 * Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Tour (Logic) (2019)
 * American Dream Tour (21 Savage) (2024)