Tony Touch is a DJ known for breaking some important artists. For almost 25 years, the Brooklyn, New York DJ/producer/radio personality handed microphones to MCs without albums out, and let them shine through freestyle. Members of Boot Camp Clik, D.I.T.C., Royce 5’9, Bumpy Knuckles, Wu-Tang Clan, Hurricane G, and others slaughtered his legendary freestyle cassette tapes with the colorful cases.

While he’s still making stellar mixes, Tony Toca’s new platform is satellite radio. His Toca Tuesdays show on Shade 45 is a destination for MCs of then, now, and always to promote projects, rarely without blessing the show with a freestyle.

The 20 Best Freestyles Of 2016. Thought You KNEW (Video)

East Point Atlanta’s J.I.D. is an MC on the rise. He’s worked with Drake affiliate Quentin Miller, Earthgang, and TDE producer Willie B. While his style (easily traced to Devin The Dude or Lil Wayne) may not be the norm for Tony’s platform, his appearance last night (February 21) was a game-changer. Phone lines lit up (including a call from onetime Bad Boy Records Hitmen member Stevie J, who offered a beat) with praise for the Spillage Village MC. Two days before (February 19), Dreamville posted a video from J.I.D., confirming him as the next great artist in J. Cole’s cabinet of raw Rap talent.

The freestyle is a sampler offering insight into what J.I.D. represents. There’s swag there, and a lot of thought, too. This MC is unafraid to admit that he’s low on ends, but big on skills. His flow is nimble, his cadences are dynamic, and the rhymes seemingly never stop. From Rap-A-Lot-era Devin to Drought-era Weezy F., this is an ATLien who studied some Southern Rap masters of the late ’90s and 2000s, and sprinkled his story in.

Andre 3000, Snoop Dogg & Devin the Dude Got the Job Done & Then Some (Audio)

#BonusBeat: J.I.D.’s high-energy, very graphic music video to current single, “Never,” which Tony Touch played:

Notice that it’s really two songs, woven together. It changes at the exact midpoint.