The Forever Story was a highly anticipated project, as it marks JID's first solo output in almost four years, since the critically acclaimed DiCaprio 2 was released in 2018.[3]Our Generation Music wrote: "With a forthcoming album that's been in the works for nearly a half decade, fans could ironically call the wait for JID's next project 'The Forever Story.'"[4]
Conceptually, The Forever Story is a sequel to JID's debut album, The Never Story, released in 2017.[4] The title is a direct reference to the 2017 album's title, and the artwork alludes to the 2017 album's artwork.[5] The artwork depicts the rapper "standing in the middle of a crowd containing people from all walks of life",[6] capturing "the different realities Black people face in America."[7]
Recording and production
In March 2020, JID began working on the album at the Spillage Village studio house in Atlanta with members of the group expected make appearances. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to record collectively for the album Spilligion.[8] In an interview with, he told Billboard, "This next album [The Forever Story] is the best shit I've ever done in my life. Every step I've taken was worth it, and our blocks are building."[9]
JID began teasing his third studio album in 2019 through use of social media, but promotion did not begin until January 2022, when the lead single, "Surround Sound", was released. During his performance at Coachella in April 2022, he told the crowd he would announce the album release date during another performance the next week; however, he never ended up doing it.[11] On August 9, 2022, he unveiled the album artwork and revealed that it would be released on August 26. A second single from the album, "Dance Now", was also released the same day.[5] On August 19, JID released "2007"—a song which was originally meant to serve as the album's outro, but could not be included in the end due to problems with sample clearance—exclusively through YouTube.[12] On August 22, he revealed the album tracklist, consisting of fifteen tracks.[13] Two days before the release, JID hosted a promotional scavenger hunt event in three different US cities; he instructed fans that those who are able to locate a Pontiac G6 (a car JID used to own) will get to hear the album early.[14] The album was officially released on August 26, 2022.[15]
On November 2, 2022, JID announced that intended album outro "2007" would be released the following day,[16] and on November 3, 2022, an extended version including the song was released to streaming services.
Music and lyrical themes
Prior to the release, JID commented on the album's themes and creation process: "Initially I wanted to create an album that serves as an origin story and speaks to who I am and what I came from. [...] This has been the heaviest project for me to make and I take pride in my vulnerability that came in the midst of creation."[17] In an interview with Complex, JID spoke on why he wanted to include personal family stories in the album saying:
[My family] is basically a part of how I became who I am. It gives inklings of why my [mindset] is a certain type of way. I gave more detail and in-depth stories [on this album], but there's still more layers to be peeled back, which I am going to do because this is going to be a long process of trying to understand me. This is just a good piece of the origin story, and this is me finding that space to be more visible and present with words.[18]
The original outro for the album, "2007", is a narrative-driven song that tells the story of JID's upbringing and college experience from an aspiring football player to a rapper. JID highlighted release dates of several albums as checkpoints to depict critical moments in his life, such as J. Cole's The Come Up, The Warm Up, and Cole World: The Sideline Story, Kendrick Lamar's Section.80, and his debut The Never Story. The song also includes skits from his father talking about when he found out JID was kicked out of college and decided to pursue rapping, and J. Cole telling the story about how they met and when he decided to sign him to Dreamville.[18][19]
The Forever Story was met with critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 6 reviews.[20]
Ben Broyd of Clash praised the album, saying "JID's latest release is a wonderful insight into the rapper's formative years, and ultimately through the introspective manner allows for an enthralling listen. Through 'The Forever Story' JID has claimed his seat at the prestigious table of Atlantan greats".[22] Writing for Pitchfork, Dylan Green called it "a sprawling and sometimes frustrating bridge between JID’s upbringing and his place within hip-hop canon and Black history at large".[23] In an anonymously written assessment for AllMusic, the reviewer claimed that it was "an album every bit as ambitious and monumental as the two solo studio outings that preceded it" and felt it demonstrated that JID was, "growing in terms of technical talent while also opening up more lyrically."[21]
"Can't Make U Change" contains a sample from "Body Heat", written by Quincy Jones, Leon Ware, Bruce Fisher, and Stanley Richardson, as performed by Jones.
"Money" contains a sample from "I’d Like to Know You Better", written by Paul Coleman, as performed by Rasputin Stash.
