Destin Choice Route, born in 1989, records as JID. The youngest of seven children raised in Atlanta, he got his stage name from his grandmother's nickname for his jittery behavior, played defensive back at Stephenson High School and took a full football scholarship to Hampton University before being kicked off the team. He moved in with EarthGang, whom he met at Hampton, and formed the collective Spillage Village. He funded his early career working call centers and delivering pizza, released the Cakewalk and Route of All Evil mixtapes, and signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records in 2017. The Never Story and DiCaprio 2 drew wide acclaim for his speed and wordplay, "Enemy" with Imagine Dragons reached number five on the Hot 100, and The Forever Story and God Does Like Ugly followed.