The Forever Story

The cover of The Forever Story places JID in the middle of a crowd. Around him stand people from all walks of life, and he is one figure among many, at the centre of the frame without towering over it. The image was designed as a sequel, echoing the artwork of his 2017 debut The Never Story, just as the album's title answers the earlier one.

The crowd is the point. The Forever Story is JID's most autobiographical record, built around his family in East Atlanta, his siblings, his parents and the community that raised him. Writers described the cover as capturing "the different realities Black people face in America", and the faces around him work as a cast list for the songs: relatives, neighbours, friends and strangers whose stories run through the verses. Where The Never Story introduced a young rapper on his own terms, the follow-up surrounds him with the people who made him, and the shift from never to forever is mirrored in the move from one figure to many.

The album arrived five years after The Never Story, a long wait for a Dreamville artist who had become one of the most admired technicians in rap. Critics placed it among the best rap albums of 2022, and the cover's idea of a life told through a community suited that praise. It was released on 26 August 2022.