Image via Getty/Scott Dudelson
On the off chance that you’re some kind of dolt who doesn’t immediately consume new music each and every Friday, here’s today’s reminder to absolutely not sleep on J.I.D’s new DJ Drama-hosted DiCaprio 2 project. As a surprise to those who haven’t given JID his due in recent years, and as affirmation of his skills to the fans who have been holding him down since Route Of Evil and before, the album is in fact really f*cking good.
And as is par for the course for artists whose new albums have been certified Really F*cking Good, JID joined Rolling Stone for a recent chat on all things DiCaprio 2. Toward the end of the feature, the conversation steers toward the rapper’s late friend and collaborator Mac Miller. Shortly before his death in September, Miller had announced a new tour in promotion of Swimming that was set to feature Thundercat and JID. Miller’s Swimming single “Self Care” notably featured contributions from JID, as well as input from DJ Dahi and ID Labs.
Speaking with Rolling Stone on Miller, whom he credits with bringing a central DiCaprio 2 cut to the finish line, the Dreamville signee described his relationship with Miller as a “real friendship.” Miller’s untimely death, he added, came as a shock that’s still with him now:
“We started getting closer this whole year. Like this year, because I knew him before, I met him before, but this year we started getting close. Hitting me up, checking on me type sh*t, and vice versa. Talking about relationships, like real friendship type sh*t. That sh*t f*cked me up, bro. I would have had the project out if he was still alive right now. We were going on tour. The tour would’ve been in f*cking three days, three days.”
Now, JID added, he has a loss of breath whenever he thinks about Miller’s death and how it reminds him of his East Atlanta upbringing. “Dealt with people dying all the time, but this sh*t was like damn, I was really just talking to you the day before, literally shot you a text, he was like ‘Bruh, I gotta do some sh*t’ and then next thing you know,” he said. “That sh*t still hard to deal with.”
Elsewhere in the interview, JID discussed the real-life parallels between himself and his “favorite actor” Leonardo DiCaprio, the three-year journey to the J. Cole-assisted “Skrawberries,” and much more. This is where you’ll find the full thing.
