Written Before Listen
IDK is not the most unique artist out of his contemporaries, but what I will say is that his versatility is pretty respectable. I never saw him as anyone standout but the features he gets on his records are always impressive. His production choice usually isn’t bad either. As a rapper though, I never saw him as anyone to look out for. Hopefully, my mind changes.
Production
Especially for knowing the production credits, this album is sonically disappointing. The best beat on this album in my opinion is “Santa Monica Blvd” which is mainly produced by ATL Jacob. I love the hard 808s and the continuous loop. The next track is “Drugs Don’t Lie” and its produced by DJ Dahi and despite the name recognition, theres nothing super memorable about the beat. Another great beat is “PradadaBang” and I don’t know if this is someone joking around, but there is co-production from three time NBA Champion and Olympic gold medalist Javale Mcgee. If you follow NBA like I do, you know that having a production from Javale Mcgee is freaking HILARIOUS!!! The song “Shoot My Shot” has production credits from T-Minus and the beat is solid enough to enjoyment. I like the drum pattern, but I’m not a fan of the Scarbee Rickenbacker Bass on standard setting and using it as a melody. We have 2 Buddha Bless beats with the tracks “Puerto Rico” and “1995” and both show Buddha going out of character with very minimal drums and authentic instrumentation. I usually know him from his Youngboy and Travis Scott production but seeing him do this type of instrumentation is unique but nothing special. We also have “Keto” produced by The Neptunes which is surprisingly consisting of the worst beat on the record. I don’t like the club drums, the loud open hi hats and the generic house chords on this one. Lastly, we have “Peloton” which is a hyphy trap song that has production credits from CashMoneyAP and YungKio and this beat sound good in the beginning, but it falls short during the verses. As you can see, we have superstar producers on this album, but they don’t bring their best performances.
Features
If you thought the big name producers was a lot, there are also big name features. Literally every track with a feature with the exception of two are some of the worst tracks. The best feature is easily Young Thug, as he fits the vibe perfectly on his respective track. We have Offset on the next track as he does what he usually does. The track right after has the most impressive names but some of the most underwhelming performances too. We have a very brief Westside Gunn intro, a very short MF DOOM post-chorus and very cringey and short Jay Electronica outro. Despite me liking the track, the song “Hey Auntie” has a Slick Rick feature that is also very short. Overall, I think some of the features I can take or leave, but I dont mind a majority of them.
Themes
I dont know why, but IDK seems to group each topic into one place. We have the hype trap cuts in the beginning, the love tracks in the middle and the serious tracks in the end. Despite liking some of the bangers and most of the serious tracks, the love tracks are AWFUL. “Shoot My Shot”, “Keto” and “10 Feet” are 3 main examples of this as they are just half-efforted club anthems that are too low-key to be played at the club. On the other hand, I like more of the nostalgic songs. The songs “1995” and “Hey Auntie” show IDK going back to simpler times and there is nothing super preachy or forced on these songs either. Overall, the thematic topics reached on these songs are very hit or miss.
Influences
As a rapper, IDK is not the most original. There is a lot of flows and cadences that are copied from the Kanye and Kendrick playbook. I will also say that is is nearly impossible to make an “IDK Type Beat”. Every beat on this thing is stylistically different from each other with the exception of some of the trap beats. It sucks because IDK is a very versatile rapper and his versatility is one of his strengths. I just wish he could make his style more noticeable.
Favorite Tracks
I will just say that I might have gotten a little too negative on this album. There are a good amount of tracks that I do like on this thing. The pure opener “Santa Monica Blvd” is a track that I already mentioned liking and I thought I was in for a treat when this played. The song “PradadaBang” is another trap banger and it also has a great Young Thug feature too. The last two real tracks are also worth mentioning as “Hey Auntie” and “Crying In Church” were easily the most attention grabbing on the record. The problem comes when my overall thoughts come into play because this album….its pretty inconsistent
Verdict
With the exception of a few tracks, this was very underwhelming. IDK needs to be more of a standout figure if he wants to catch peoples attention. This is not an album I see myself coming back to.
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