JID


Destin Choice Route, known by his stage name JID, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. He is part of the musical collective Spillage Village, founded by EarthGang in 2010, with Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, and 6lack, among others. He is also signed to J. Cole's Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. He is also a member of the hip-hop supergroup Zoink Gang, with Smino, Buddy and Guapdad 4000.
JID began gaining recognition after releasing several independent projects such as Route of Evil, Para Tu and DiCaprio. His debut studio album, The Never Story, was released on March 10, 2017 to public praise and included the single "Never". He released his second album DiCaprio 2 on November 26, 2018; it contained the singles "151 Rum" and "Off Deez" and also received critical acclaim.

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 J.I.D 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. He received a scholarship to play NCAA Division I football at Hampton University, where he redshirted his first year, then played two seasons before he was kicked off the team. J.I.D eventually moved in with Doctur Dot and Johnny Venus from EarthGang who he met from his time in Virginia.

Musical career

2010–16: Career beginnings

J.I.D released his first mixtape Cakewalk on May 18, 2010. Earlier that year, he formed Spillage Village with Earthgang, Hollywood JB, and JordxnBryant. 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 EarthGang and Stillz. J.I.D 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, J.I.D appeared alongside rappers Cozz, Kodie Shane and Ali Tomineek in a cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards. In November 2017, J.I.D 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, J.I.D appeared on a remix with Foster The People and Saba called "Pay The Man".

2018–present: ''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 has since been 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, J.I.D 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. J.I.D 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, J.I.D.'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, J.I.D. announced the second leg of his Catch Me If You Can tour. The tour includes 26 dates starting in May, and features 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, Spillage Village the single "End of Daze", for their fourth collective album Spilligion.

Artistry

Influences

Growing up, J.I.D's first connection with music was through his parents' collection of classic funk and soul LPs. He names Sly and the Family Stone, D'Angelo, Wu-Tang Clan, Little Dragon, boom-bap, New York hip hop and Arctic Monkeys as his biggest influences. He also cited fellow Atlanta artists OutKast, T.I., Goodie Mob and Gucci Mane as influences.

Discography

Headlining
Supporting