IDK, formerly Jay IDK, has a hell of a story. The Maryland spitter was raised in a middle-class household before being incarcerated and charged as an adult at age 17. It remains unclear (to me) for what or for how long IDK was in prison, but it certainly shaped his musical style. IDK stands for “ignorantly delivering knowledge,” which IDK goes into more detail about in a video he did with Pigeons and Planes. Basically, IDK is the rap equivalent of a linebacker-safety hybrid in football; he can hit you with the heavy, conscious tales from the streets while also putting his own spin on some of hip-hops more popular themes and beats. IWasVeryBad is his debut album after two mixtapes each of the previous two years, with a three-track rollout and visual pre-release mediated by Adult Swim.
The album runs as the tale of IDK’s life, starting from the beginning and continuing through the present. “Maryland Ass N----“ is the second track and features a disjointed drum loop, disembodied “one!” sample made famous on “Mercy,” glitchy synths, and a rare Swizz Beatz verse and hook that are listenable. IDK speeds it up and slows it down as he sees fit, rapping relentlessly about his teenage years and the poor choices he was making at the time. The beat switches seamlessly into “Pizza Shop Extended,” which finds IDK reflecting on the temptation to run with the gangsters and criminals in his neighborhood because for the money and power. He’s not at full speed here, but lyrically sharp and biting nonetheless. The beat for Part I is another dark, swirling slapper that gives IDK plenty of room to operate on the mic. Part II switches it up to a dustier, more urgent beat driven by a quick baseline. Features from DOOM and Del The Funky Homosapien both deliver and serve as a significant cosign for IDK.
“17 With a 38” hits your ears with force, especially on the tails of a lighter track about sex in “Birds and the Bees.” The reverberating, snapping drums on the intro melt into another lurking, hammering beat driven by a distant siren on the chorus before bringing back the weird drums for the verses. IDK growls his way through the chorus and his verse, but the huge feature comes from the most unlikely of places: Chief Keef. This is easily the best Keef verse I’ve heard in recent memory as he sounds clear-headed and delivers a fully-realized, coherent verse. The closer “Baby Scale” demonstrates perfectly the musical balance that IDK manages. The first half finds IDK literally explaining how balanced he is musically with quicksilver rhymes over a jazzy, but ominous beat. The breakdown occurs about 90 seconds in as a cluster of horns give way to one of the hardest beats of 2017 that splutters and slaps along over a distant horn as IDK (with an assist from Yung Gleesh) spazzes about his skills and getting the respect he deserves in the game. Quite simply, it’s hard as fuck.
“Baby scale means balance,” declares IDK, and he practices what he preaches. While the tracks mentioned are, by and large, slappers, IDK has plenty of lighter listening on IWasVeryBad. “Windows Up” features a nicely pitched synth and lighter drums as IDK harmonizes and raps about his desire for female companionship. “Birds and the Bees” is next in line and gives us some tinkling piano, random nature noises, and a dancehall-ish baseline that just sits nicely under the drums and synths while gently nudging the beat along. IDK is again on his lighter harmony rapping and spits lightheartedly about sex and women and occasionally singing along with some backing female vocals. Other tracks such as “Mrs. Lynch, Your Son Is The Devil” and “No Shoes On The Rug, Leave Them At The Door” are songs where IDK fuses his harder raps with lighter beats to create a more introspective atmosphere and deal with topics such as his mother and specific tales from his past.
IDK’s chameleonic style makes him hard to quantify as an artist; he has no trouble making bangers, but he can rap his ass off and has a decent-enough voice for R&B-tinged tracks. It’s telling that someone unknown by the mainstream could recruit Chief Keef and DOOM for the same project. I would hope IDK continues this trend of creating projects that can veer in unexpected directions at any moment. IWasVeryBad is one of my favorite project of the year because of its unpredictability (the piano solo halfway through “Black Sheep, White Dove” comes to mind as does the transition from “Birds and Bees” to “17 With A 38”) and because IDK executes it all with such precision. He is an incredible talent that has enough self-confidence to know he can take these creative risks and pull them off. If he continues in this fashion, IDK will be impossible to ignore.