JID is really out here. The Dreamville-signed rapper from Atlanta, GA has seen his career trajectory slingshot into the stratosphere lately after his latest tape, DiCaprio 2, became one of the label’s biggest releases of 2018. While it sparked a huge buzz on social media and made the up-and-coming JID a name to watch for the coming year, it also had the beneficial effect of popularizing his music enough to land a placement on one of the biggest stages for any artist — a primetime Nike ad featuring one of the NBA’s most exciting all-stars, Russell Westbrook. A commercial for the Oklahoma City leader’s newest Jordan signature shoe will air tonight during the Thunder’s game against the Lakers in Westbrook’s hometown of Los Angeles featuring an original track by JID praising the point guard’s on-court intensity.
While the NBA and business partner Nike have always been progressive in selecting hip-hop stars for their respective marketing campaigns — Migos, for instance, will be part of a long-running NBA initiative throughout the back half of its current season — both brands have started to dig deeper for rising underground talent rather than relying on the biggest name co-signs. This has the mutually beneficial effect of making them look cooler to the youth market that is the lifeblood of their growth and exposing newer talents to wider audiences. Westbrook himself has been the catalyst in this equation on more than one occasion; the ad for his last iteration of his Jordan sneaker featured Lil Uzi Vert’s “Do What I Want.”
JID, meanwhile, continued his hot streak all through the past couple months with an appearance on The Tonight Show, an eye-catching video featuring label boss J. Cole, and the announcement of a national tour kicking off this month.
