Hailing from Atlanta, the Coca-Cola brand was naturally a part of J.I.D’s upbringing so it was only a matter of time until they linked up. After all, the World of Coca-Cola was right in his backyard. The Forever Story rapper joined forces with K-Pop group NewJeans earlier this year for the “Zero (Remix),” presented by Coca-Cola’s global music platform, Coke Studio. The pairing of one of the most championed MCs in hip-hop right now and a South Korean girl group wasn’t necessarily on J.I.D's card. However, it provided him with an opportunity to expand his reach.
Along with his contributions to the “Zero (Remix),” J.I.D further proved his versatility with a verse on the genre and geography-spanning “Be Who You Are (Real Magic),” helmed by 5x Grammy-award winning musician and composer, Jon Batiste. The song also features Camilo, NewJeans, and Cat Burns.
“It's super dope because I kind of developed a relationship with one of the people that I shot with on the day – Camilo. And just hearing a song and his finished product and seeing the videos and everything that's coming from it, it's super positive,” J.I.D told HotNewHipHop over a Zoom call. “And then just me being from Atlanta and learning about these people through a medium that was essentially in my backyard and part of my upbringing. It just made me feel even more at home with getting the product done as far as the music.”
We caught up with J.I.D. to discuss his recent collaboration with Coca-Cola and NewJeans, his European festival run following the Luv Is 4Ever tour, and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
HotNewHipHop: How familiar were you with the K-Pop scene before you connected with NewJeans for the “Zero (Remix)” for Coca-Cola’s global music platform, Coke Studio?
J.I.D: Just being in the industry of music, of course, I know. I knew who they were, I knew of their music. I knew about the K-pop scene, as well.
Were you a fan of them before you got to connect with them?
I've heard of them before. I wouldn't necessarily say a fan but I am now.
What does it mean to be part of this cultural moment with Coca-Cola?
It's super dope because I kind of developed a relationship with one of the people that I shot with on the day – Camilo. And just hearing the song and the finished product and seeing the videos and everything that's coming from it, it's super positive. And then just me being from Atlanta and learning about these people through a medium that was essentially in my backyard and part of my upbringing, it just made me feel even more at home with getting the product done as far as the music. I was super appreciative just being considered so I like stuff like this. And all the artists did great and I'm proud of the songs, as well.
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What was one of the more surprising things about working with NewJeans through this experience?
I don't want to – I gotta be truthful. Like, I didn't really speak to them or anything like that. It was just put together. We brought production in on our side to make me a little bit more comfortable in bringing a different sound to the table. So I got my guy Christo, my DJ and producer, to help with it. But beyond that, the record was already done on their side. And it was released prior to me getting on it already because it's just a remix.
What was your reaction when you first started working on the song? Were you a bit hesitant before?
Yeah, it was a hesitation because the stuff I did like – of course, I tried to be more flexible, more fluid in these attempts to do other genres and stuff like that. But I was apprehensive at the beginning and just sitting with it. And being how I am creatively, I knew I would come up with something that can at least fit the world and be, like, good enough, you know what I'm saying? Or better. Or just a good attempt at trying to make the music in collab over the world.
You also ended up working with Jon Batiste on “Be Who You Are (Real Magic).” What was that experience like and have there been any conversations to work together on your next project?
He asking me the hard-hitting stuff, ain’t you? I haven’t met them before so there hasn’t been any real conversations about work in the future. But for those songs that we did work on, of course, it was a campaign for Coca-Cola. So, we were all brought to the same realm or the same world, as far as music. So that's like a common ground there. But beyond that, we didn't really have many conversations.
It was kind of just trying to make sure they got everything they needed from us and going back and forth with the music. Trying to make sure it’s lining up along with the narrative that they’re trying to push. It was more so just giving the corporation what they needed as opposed to us really trying to tap in as artists if that makes sense.
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Is there an update on the next J.I.D album?
Yeah. Yeah, of course [laughs]. There’s always an update on the next album.
I know you’re on tour but have you been laying down reference tracks? What’s going on with that?
Oh yeah, I've been working the whole time. So even like today, the off day, I might be getting to the studio. And I've been knocking out a lot of features really heavy. And I have a lot of work already placed in certain that I’m –
[Publicist interrupts to say they’re “not ready to speak about it yet”].
The Korean hip-hop scene takes a lot of inspiration from Atlanta, going back a decade to OG Maco. From your perspective, why do you think Atlanta’s influence has been so strong over the past decade across the world?
Are you talking about Keith Ape?
Yeah, exactly.
I met him when I went to Korea last time. I don't know, I guess it’s culture, you know what I'm saying? There’s a lot of Black people in this culture. So it makes sense. It's like a tale of time of inspiration coming from just our people. It’s kind of black-and-white, for real. Kind of set the standard and yeah.
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J. Cole just did the collaboration with j-hope from BTS. Did you two have any conversations about diving into that sound before?
No, because I think more so with his collaboration, that was more based on the relationship and actually creating it as artists and stuff. But the NewJeans collaboration, I'm not sure if that would have happened without the brand of Coke you know what I'm saying?
I'm not sure that was in my cards, specifically. Though I'm a fan of the whole K-Pop genre on the rise and things going on. They're like some of the biggest artists on earth. Not sure if it would have been the same type of situation as it was with Cole. Nonetheless, it's great for music that those types of collaborations are happening.
In terms of hip hop overseas, even outside of Korea, are there any other scenes that you’re paying attention to?
I feel like the UK scene has been popping more. You know, more like the London scene like Central Cee and Dave and Little Simz. I’m sure there are a bunch of others that I’m forgetting about right now. But yeah, the UK scene has been hitting. I feel like J Hus just dropped something that was tough, too.
You have a personal connection with the Coca-Cola brand through your family and The Forever Story unpacks a lot of your family roots. How did your family react to the Coca-Cola collab?
Oh yeah, my family loved it just because Coca-Cola was like our backyard. Like Atlanta and Coke is, like, hand-in-hand, for sure, for sure. I think they’re super proud of that moment. Just us being able to do it and I just remember going on field trips when I was a kid to the Coca-Cola factory and just, it being near the aquarium and a few other places I always wanted to go to as a kid and places that we’ve been to before. So, it was super tight, bro.
What's your favorite Coca-Cola flavor outside of the original?
Probably Vanilla. Vanilla Coke, definitely, because that was like one of the first ones I remember they like switched it up and I was like, yeah.
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How's the European run feel right now? Especially just coming off of the Luv Is 4ever tour.
This is just as crazy, for real, maybe a little bit more crazy because I'm doing bigger rooms than I've ever done. And everything is sold out and all of the fans here are just like super – I don’t know, they're just showing a lot of love over here like always. It’s always love at home, as well, but over here is just different because they don't see you as much and I think it's been about three or four years since I've been here. So everything that we're doing this time around is way bigger and it just feels like the steps that we took to get to these moments like, they’re paying off. So, it’s really an eye-opener. It’s really amazing, bro.
Now that you’re playing Europe for the first time in a few years, do you think your overseas shows have secured “Stick” as the definitive festival banger?
[Laughs] It’s definitely one of them. I know “Stick” goes crazy but the reaction I see from “Surround Sound” and “Dance Now,” and even “151,” it’s like a few records that I have that are real crazy records and heavy with crowd response. I would say “Stick” is definitely #1. Maybe, it could be #2 on a certain night.
