On July 3, JID announced a surprise drop of GDLU (Preluxe) on his Instagram. As part of the rollout for his upcoming album, God Does Like Ugly, JID has released a project that serves as a prelude. The album is set to release on Aug. 8, 2025.
In a typical album rollout, an artist usually puts out the album, gives their fans a few weeks to sit with it, before releasing a deluxe version. The deluxe often comes with remixes, or extra songs that didn't make the album. For this rollout, however, JID has chosen to do the opposite.
Rather than make us wait for a deluxe or even the album itself, JID has decided to give us a preview of what we can expect. Consider this an appetizer before we receive the whole meal. GDLU (Preluxe) features four songs that, according to JID's announcement, will not be on the official album.
A review of JID's GDLU (Preluxe) - Setting up for success?
"Behold"
"Behold" is the perfect intro for a project like this. In the first verse, JID claims, "These flows keep they feet cold, the thrones getting repoed."
Wasting no time, JID makes his intentions clear going into the album. At a time when many rappers are throwing their hat in the ring claiming to be the best, JID steps back into the spotlight with a challenge to anyone who is willing to put their skills to the test against him.
"Knew Better" (feat. Lil Yachty)
The only miss on the project comes with the song "Knew Better," which has a feature from Lil Yachty. In all fairness, I personally have never been a fan of Lil Yachty's music, despite the fact that I went into the track with an open mind.
Unfortunately, the song did not do much for me sonically. Though JID displays some impressive flows, as per usual, there is nothing memorable about the song. At most, this song rewards fans with a fun feature.
"Lisa" (feat. 6LACK)
Without a doubt, my favorite track is "Lisa." The song features a frequent collaborator throughout JID's discography, 6LACK. A fellow member of the Atlanta hip-hop group Spillage Village, where both artists got their start, 6LACK has been featured in a majority of JID's music projects. Overall, "Lisa" has the best production in the Preluxe. The song captures a similar vibe to that of JID's first studio album, The Never Story.
"Animals (Pt. 1)" [feat. Eminem]
Last but not least was another collab between JID and the hip-hop legend, Eminem. Perhaps the biggest question asked by anyone who has listened to the track is "why didn't it make it on the album?" The song features hard-hitting verses from both rappers. However, Eminem's verse has received the most attention.
In my opinion, this was Eminem's best rapping in years. Despite killing off Slim Shady in his last album, The Death of Slim Shady, Eminem's cadence, flow, and shocking bars in the song match that of his infamous alter ego.
For the past decade, many have been split on whether Eminem is still the rapper he once was. No matter what side of the argument you lean towards, however, there is no denying that with this feature, Eminem proved he's still got it.
Undoubtedly, both artists always bring the best out of each other, as proven by their previous collaboration, "Fuel." It makes perfect sense considering the competitive nature between them.
Overall, JID's GDLU (Preluxe) serves as somewhat of a fun teaser trailer for the full album. By no means is this an extraordinary piece of work, much less an album of the year contender, but it serves its purpose of holding his fanbase over while we await his official album release next month.
While it may seem like a questionable decision to leave some of these big-name features out of the actual album, I believe it only signifies that there may be bigger surprises in store. In a perfect world, perhaps we finally receive a long-awaited Kendrick Lamar and JID collaboration, which JID himself recently advocated for.
Fresh off the hype of Lamar's beef with Drake and the release of GNX, perhaps now is the perfect time for a collab between two of hip-hop's finest?