“Enemy” by Imagine Dragons & JID

Imagine Dragon’s “Enemy” is a little bit complicated. Based on Dan Reynolds’ explanation, this track is actually centered on the concept of internal conflict. But that’s not how his lyrics actually come off. Rather, they read very much as if he is speaking to having not only one but a number of ‘enemies’ in a very external, interpersonal sense. 

And in the second verse there is apparently one individual in particular who really wants to see him fail. But what Dan is telling this person or predicting is that by the end of the day, he’s the one who will prevail.

Concerning Reynolds’ abovenoted explanation, perhaps what he is specifically referring to is the outro, which is kinda out of place in relation to the rest of the narrative. Therein, the vocalist makes the seemingly out-of-nowhere assertion that he “will never be a saint”. 

Perhaps what he is saying is that his enemies should look out, as he isn’t so pious, if you will, not to forcefully defend himself if provoked. But given the current state of the music industry, well, there’s a lot of songs coming out these days where vocalists go out of their way to let the audience know that striving for righteousness ain’t really their thing.

JID steps in

Meanwhile, JID seems to do a better job of sticking to the intended topic. In other words, his verse, at least initially, points more to the idea of the challenges he’s facing being more of the internal, ‘emotional’ variety. 

But that is not to imply that his passage is cohesive per se. In fact by the time all is said and done, JID too turns his attention to external rivals. And going a bit out on a limb, what he appears to be saying conclusively is that he’s more concerned with staying focused than addressing fruitless beefs.

The Conclusion of “Enemy”

So we can say that there’s a lot going on here, and respective listeners will probably take different messages away from this song. But at its heart, theoretically speaking, would be the idea of success being the sweetest revenge. That is to say that the vocalists’ strategy for dealing with their rivals is to rather take a more self-strengthening approach.

Facts about “Enemy”

The two vocalists on this song are Imagine Dragons’ frontman Dan Reynolds and Dreamville rapper JID. 

The reason the ultra-popular League of Legends videogame franchise is referenced as a co-feature would likely be due to the fact that this song actually serves as the lead single from Arcane (Soundtrack from the Animated Series), with Arcane being a forthcoming cartoon special based on the game. 

And other artists who are participating on its soundtrack include the likes of Pusha T, Denzel Curry and even Sting.

The producers of this track are as follows:

• Mattias Larsson
• Robin Fredriksson, aka Mattman & Robin 

And the two of them are also individually credited as writers of “Enemy”. They composed “Enemy” in conjunction with the following:

• Justin Tranter
• JID
• Imagine Dragons’ members (Reynolds, McKee, Platzman and Sermon)

The League of Legends franchise is also behind putting together the music video to “Enemy”, which is an animated affair.

League of Legends, Imagine Dragons and JID

League of Legends first came out in 2009. As of 2021, it reportedly makes about $2 billion per year. And the franchise is known to take its musical ambitions quite seriously. It regularly enlists professional musicians, perhaps most notably thus far the virtual girl group K/DA, to promote its product.

Imagine Dragons, if you don’t already know, is one of the most successful American bands of the 21^st century. They also aren’t afraid of a hip-hop collaboration here and there. And in that regard, they dropped a track in 2016 entitled “Sucker for Pain” alongside Logic, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla Sign and Lil Wayne.

As noted earlier, JID is a rapper down with J. Cole’s Dreamville Records, though himself being from the ATL. He’s dropped a couple of studio albums thus far, 2017’s “The Never Story” and 2018’s “DiCaprio 2”, the latter of which made a little bit of noise internationally. 

But to note he also participated on the label’s 2019 Revenge of the Dreamers III album, which was Billboard 200 chart topper.