Watch JID Perform His Slow-Building TikTok Hit “Surround Sound” On Fallon
Way back in 2022, the Atlanta rapper JID released his impressive and long-awaited album The Forever Story. It took time, but one of the songs from that LP is finally on its way to being a big hit. “Surround Sound,” a collaboration with 21 Savage and Baby Tate, came out months before the album’s release — January 2022, almost exactly two years ago. It didn’t blow up right away. In the past few months, though, “Surround Sound” become the soundtrack for a TikTok trend called the Ceiling Challenge. (People put their phones on their ceilings to film themselves dancing in birds’-eye view.) Now, that song is the biggest hit of JID’s career — or, at least, the biggest that he didn’t make with Imagine Dragons.
Yesterday, “Surround Sound” rose to #44 on the Hot 100, the highest that it’s ever gone. Last night, JID did musical-guest duties on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, performing “Surround Sound” without 21 Savage or Baby Tate. It would’ve been cool to see JID do that song with the Roots, but that’s not what he did. Instead, he rapped with a DJ, keyboard player, and drummer behind him. No hypeman, though. JID doesn’t need one of those.
It’s cool when a song like “Surround Sound” gets a random-ass boost, but it was always a great song, and JID was always a great rapper. On Fallon, JID weaved all over the beat, navigating the track’s beat-switch and showing his pinpoint technical mastery without skimping on charisma. I’m expecting JID to show up on a whole lot of festival lineups this summer. Watch his Fallon performance below.
The Forever Story is out now on Dreamville/Interscope.