Showing your work matters. Brazilian artist Luciano Maia’s first exhibition at the Los Angeles M+B Gallery led to JID’s team discovering his paintings and reaching out to collaborate.

Until then, Luciano had never worked with a musician and only heard one JID’s song.

That song was JID’s collaboration with Imagine Dragons, “Enemy,” which became very popular in Brazil. Luciano was happy to dive deeper into his music, listening to it non-stop, and it instantly clicked.

While Luciano never heard the full album before its release, JID’s team sent him a moodboard that hinted at the album’s storyline. It featured historical references to Atlanta, dualities like heaven and hell, good and evil, and “a city in ruins that still held on to faith, hope, and a sense of magic.”

Luciano shared insight into the process and technique of completing the painting, which took two weeks.

“Once the sketches were approved, the fun part began. I worked on a 1.2m x 1m canvas made of pure silk. I treat the silk myself so it can hold the paint, and that alone takes two to three days.

I transfer the sketch using a projector, and the first lines are drawn with a very fine ink pen using diluted acrylic. The painting phase is much more organic and free, it’s where I get to play the most. Even though I usually stick to a certain palette, I knew this needed more saturation since it would be an album cover.”

Despite being an experienced artist, Luciano welcomed JID’s feedback.

“I’m used to creative processes that involve feedback, revisions, and approvals...

I started sketching digitally, and we built it like a puzzle, moving elements around, deciding what should stay or be highlighted. At that stage, there was no sense of color or texture yet, so I created smaller versions to test how the final piece would feel.”

The concept of the painting blends JID’s album trailer, which described the project as a “lost world”, with Luciano’s life near the mysterious Amazon rainforest and his mythology-inspired paintings, which he calls a “visual delirium.”

“I think this idea of a ‘lost world’ speaks to the times we’re living in. As humans, we’re facing a critical moment on this planet, and there are different ways to deal with that: some based on realism, others rooted in invention. Creating new mythologies, our own stories, to imagine a future... there’s nothing more delirious or necessary than that.”

But the connection doesn’t stop there. São Paulo, where Luciano is based, and JID’s Atlanta are very similar in terms of culture and climate.

“Both are vibrant cities with strong Black communities and incredibly rich artistic scenes, but they’re also marked by inequality. In both places, art often emerges as a response to structural racism, marginalization, and the constant threat of erasure.

I think both my paintings and JID’s music are fueled by this same urgency; the need to tell stories that usually get pushed to the edges.”

Looking at the cover, it’s easy to imagine the world around it, with much more to explore.

“I genuinely hope the cover catches people’s attention before they even press play. I want them to get lost in it to take a moment and notice all the details. I see it as a bonus experience layered into the music. I do feel like this cover could be part of something bigger, visually. We haven’t discussed anything further yet, because everyone’s been focused on the album release, but I’d love to collaborate again in the future.”

Luciano is ready to continue developing his style and explore more collaborations. One artist he hopes to work with is Andre 3000, which feels like a perfect fit