Best Dark Horse in the Running

Following the critical success of this year’s The Never Story, J.I.D is firmly planted in hip-hop’s conscious. The Spillage Village MC is the latest spitter to align himself with J. Cole’s Dreamville imprint and may be the first out of the broadening collective to make a true move toward the mass appreciation of their label head. Hailing from East Atlanta, J.I.D, born Destin Route, describes his music as a true-to-life depiction of his early experiences in dealing with and overcoming the struggles of growing up amid drugs, violence and gang life. He matches this realism in subject matter with a knack for rhyme that places him at the top of the heap of the city’s most respected and most talented lyricists. Pair that with an innate ear for melody, and it’s looking like J.I.D might just be next to blow up. www.dreamville.com/artist/j-i-d. less...