JID is back, and the apocalyptic video for his new single, “WRK,” follows a similar format to the trailer for his upcoming album, God Does Like Ugly, depicting conflict in a devastated version of his hometown, Atlanta.
Mixing the haunted aesthetic of post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us with the scavenged future punk tribal discord of the Mad Max series, the “WRK” video explores a version of A-Town where something very bad has apparently happened, splitting the denizens into two factions. One, a hazmat-clad authority group, faces off against the other, a group of residents gone feral, as JID raps in the wreckage of an abandoned skyscraper.
Toward the end of the video, a cobbled together museum of artifacts holds the city’s history, from the bandana worn by the late Young Scooter, to a 20-inch auto wheel, to a videotape of God Does Like Ugly, which a young survivor pops into a VCR, presaging the coming of the album of the same name.
JID first previewed “WRK” at Dreamville Festival after turning in the long-awaited album despite his manager joking that the album would never come out. Thank goodness he was wrong.
You can watch the video for “WRK” above.
