IDK (rapper) explained

IDK
Birth Name:Jason Aaron Mills
Birth Date:24 May 1992
Birth Place:London, England
Origin:Prince George's County, Maryland, U.S.
Years Active:2012–present

Jason Aaron Mills (born May 24, 1992), professionally known as IDK (also known as Jay IDK; a backronym for Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge),[1] is a British-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Early life

Jason Aaron Mills was born on May 24, 1992, in London, England to parents of Sierra Leonean and Ghanaian descent. He was raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, where he later started to make music initially under the moniker Jay IDK.

Career

In August 2015, Mills released his second mixtape, titled SubTrap.[6] The name stands for Suburban Trap or "trap music with substance".[7] The album features the singles "The Plug,"[8] "God Said Trap (King Trappy III)"[9] and "Cookie Addiction" featuring BJ the Chicago Kid.[10] It features production from Skhye Hutch, was mixed by Lo Mein, Tim Webberson, Matt Weiss, and Delbert Bowers. Project management for Subtrap was overseen by Blade Thornton, David Kuti, Clayton Barmore, Quinelle Holder, and Ryan Booth.[11] Mills' style of rapping has been compared to the early work of Kendrick Lamar, especially Lamar's 2011 album Section.80.[12]

On June 22, 2016, Mills was announced as one of the performers at the 2016 Trillectro Music Festival.[13] [14] On September 9, 2016, Mills released his third mixtape Empty Bank and premiered it on Forbes.[15] Mills opened for Isaiah Rashad on his "The Lil Sunny" tour which started in January 2017.[16]

On October 13, 2017, Mills released his fourth mixtape IWasVeryBad, which was released for free in collaboration with Adult Swim.[17] Mills later released the first six songs of the album as a series on Noisey.[18] This series gave the album visuals and a new story. The first six songs were part of the first season, with the second season going unreleased, which assumingly would've included the last six songs.

On November 9, 2018, Mills released his first EP IDK & Friends :).[19]

On September 4, 2019, Mills released his debut studio album, Is He Real, including features from Pusha T, DMX, JID, Tyler, the Creator, Burna Boy, and GLC.[20]

On June 26, 2020, Mills released his second EP IDK & Friends 2, which was used as the soundtrack for Kevin Durant's Basketball County Documentary.[21]

On July 9, 2021, Mills released his second studio album, USee4Yourself, including features from Young Thug, Offset, Westside Gunn, MF Doom, Jay Electronica, Lucky Daye, SiR, T-Pain, The Neptunes, Swae Lee, Rico Nasty, Slick Rick, Sevyn Streeter, and more.[22]

On April 29, 2022, Mills opened for Zedd at Washington University in St. Louis as part of WILD.

On May 1, 2022, Mills performed at Swarthmore College as part of Worthstock.

On May 6, 2022, Mills released his third studio album, Simple, which included features from Denzel Curry and Mike Dimes, and was executively produced by Kaytranada.[23]

On May 5, 2023, Mills released his fourth studio album, F65, including features from Fat Trel, NLE Choppa, Jucee Froot, Saucy Santana, Tay Iwar, Musiq Soulchild, Rich The Kid, Snoop Dogg and Benny the Butcher.[24]

Discography

Studio albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:22em;"
Album detailsPeak chart positions
US
[25]
Is He Real
USee4Yourself 164
Simple.
  • Released: May 6, 2022
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl, CD
  • Producers: IDK, Kaytranada
F65
  • Released: May 5, 2023
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
  • Producers: IDK,

Mixtapes

Title! scope="col" style="width:18em;"
Album details
Sex, Drugs & Homework
  • Released: May 25, 2014
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
SubTrap
  • Released: August 25, 2015
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Empty Bank
  • Released: September 9, 2016
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
IWasVeryBad
  • Released: October 13, 2017
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
IDK & Friends :)
  • Released: November 9, 2018
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
IDK & Friends 2 (Basketball County soundtrack)
  • Released: June 26, 2020
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles

Title! scope="col" style="width:21em;"
Single details
"Blame My Friends (The Gang)"
  • Released: February 7, 2017
  • Label: Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"OMW"
  • Released: April 27, 2017
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"No Wave" (featuring Denzel Curry)
  • Released: February 16, 2018
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Lil Arrogant" (featuring Joey Badass and Russ)
  • Released: March 30, 2018
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Star"
  • Released: May 25, 2018
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Trippie Redd's Freestyle"
  • Released: June 28, 2018
  • Label: Self-released (HXLY TRiBE)
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Electric" (featuring Q Da Fool)
  • Released: September 27, 2018
  • Label: Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Trigger Happy"
  • Released: March 6, 2019
  • Label: Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"In My White Tee"
  • Released: April 10, 2020
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Coal"
  • Released: November 26, 2021
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Released as an Apple Music exclusive for Carols Covered 2021.[26] Mills later rereleased the song on other platforms on December 1, 2022.[27]

"W13"
  • Released: August 26, 2022
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Monsieur Dior"
  • Released: October 28, 2022
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Denim" (featuring Joey Badass)
  • Released: March 28, 2024
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
"Tiffany" (featuring Gunna)
  • Released: June 21, 2024
  • Label: Warner, Clue
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Guest appearances

Title! scope="col"
YearArtist(s)Album
"Kristi YamaGucci"2018ASAP Ferg, Denzel Curry, NickNackrowspan="2"
"Uh Huh"Denzel Curry
"I Don't Sell Dope"Lil GnarGNAR Lif3
"No Time"Party Thievesrowspan="2"
"Beautiful Smile"Saba
"And You"Token, BasBetween Somewhere
"Beautiful Oblivion"The NeighbourhoodHard to Imagine the Neighbourhood Ever Changing
"MINIMIZYA"2019City MorgueCITY MORGUE VOL 2: AS GOOD AS DEAD
"Al Pacino"2020IziRIOT
"Burnin Bridges / Long Day"2021QuadecaFrom Me to You
"FREE SMOKE"2021JermUltraviolet
"Uber Music"2021Diz Live, Bino RideauxUber Music
"Trials"2022NGHTMREDRMVRSE
"Psychedelic Views"2022Sad Night DynamiteVolume II

Notes and References

  1. Web site: IDK . 2022-04-11 . Genius . en.
  2. Krzeczowski. Jake. The Break Presents: Jay IDK. XXL. May 9, 2016.
  3. Web site: Skelton. Eric. LISTEN TO TWO EXPLOSIVE NEW SINGLES FROM JAY IDK. Pigeons & Planes. June 28, 2016.
  4. Ju. Shirley. Jay IDK Drops "Mentality" & "Somebody". HipHopDX. June 28, 2016.
  5. Web site: Kyles. Yohance.
    1. DMVOnTheMove: Jay IDK Is Expanding His Tribe Of Supporters By Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge
    . AllHipHop. April 14, 2016 . May 24, 2016.
  6. Frydenlund. Zach. Premiere: Stream IDK's 'Subtrap' Project. Complex. May 12, 2016.
  7. Martinez. Adrian. Premier: Jay IDK "God Said Trap" FT. Ash Riser. Mass Appeal. April 28, 2016.
  8. Web site: Leight. Elias. Vent Your Frustrations With Jay IDK's "Metro". The Fader. May 12, 2016.
  9. Web site: Lewis. Brittany. Jay IDK & Deniro Farrar "Trust Nobody" (NEW MUSIC). Global Grind. April 14, 2016 . Interactive One. June 28, 2016.
  10. Web site: Belassen. Lorenzo. Jay IDK Recruits BJ The Chicago Kid forKid. 2DOPEBOYZ. June 28, 2016.
  11. Web site: Jay IDK – SubTrap. August 25, 2015 . discogs.
  12. Krzeczowski. Jake. The Break Presents: Jay IDK. XXL.
  13. Web site: Case. Wesley. Kid Cudi, Rae Sremmurd to headline 5th Trillectro Music Festival at Merriweather. The Baltimore Sun. June 28, 2016.
  14. Web site: Hartleb. Ellie. Trillectro 2016 Lineup Announced. June 23, 2016 . NBC Washington. June 28, 2016.
  15. Web site: Setaro. Shawn. Rapper Jay IDK Gets Real About Money On 'Empty Bank'. Forbes. January 22, 2017.
  16. Web site: Morris. Hannah. jayidkfan.weebly.com. Weebly.
  17. adult swim . adult swim . adultswim . 913799983937327105 . September 29, 2017 . New album IWASVERYBAD from @IDK is live now https://t.co/pzO0AFLSLA . en . May 12, 2023.
  18. NOISEY . NoiseyMusic . 1052310716336594944 . October 16, 2018 . PREMIERE: @idk reenacts the real-life events that led to his incarceration at 17-years-old in his IWasVeryBad album visual https://t.co/2WrAnINfMy https://t.co/4WtLHXuKmr . en . May 12, 2023.
  19. Web site: McKrell. Aaron. Review: IDK Finds Good Company on 'IDK & Friends'. HipHopDX. November 20, 2018 . January 18, 2019.
  20. IDK Recruits Tyler, the Creator, Pusha T, DMX and More for Star-Studded Is He Real? Album: Stream it Now . .
  21. Web site: Listen to IDK's IDK & Friends 2, the Soundtrack to Kevin Durant's 'Basketball County: In the Water' . .
  22. Web site: IDK – 'USEE4YOURSELF' album review: Multi-faceted rap from Maryland's brightest star . . July 7, 2021 .
  23. Web site: IDK Releases Kaytranada-Produced EP Simple f/ Denzel Curry and Mike Dimes . .
  24. IDK . IDK . 1648784259698819072 . April 19, 2023 . .Since y'all wanna leak shit fuck it. I guess I'm somewhat flattered. Pre save F65 here https://t.co/0iWGsFIzHz Rich The Kid Fat Trel Benny The Butcher Snoop Dogg NLE Choppa Tay Iwar Musiq Soulchild Saucy Santana Jucee Froot Goldie #F65 https://t.co/sCmjV9cwvm https://t.co/mmSyAeAwD7 . en . May 12, 2023.
  25. billboard charts . billboard charts . billboardcharts . 1417128435663753229 . July 19, 2021 . Debuts on this week's #Billboard200: #21, @vincestaples Vince Staples #24, @snohaalegra Temporary Highs In The Violet #64, @BIABIA For Certain #164, @IDK USee4Yourself #183, @TheWallflowers Exit Wounds . en . May 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210820083053/https://twitter.com/billboardcharts/status/1417128435663753229 . August 20, 2021 . live.
  26. Web site: Tate McRae, Ari Lennox, IDK and More Light up Apple Music's 2021 'Carols Covered' Playlist. Variety.com . November 18, 2021 .
  27. Web site: IDK's 'Coal' is finally available for all this Christmas season. Attacktheculture.com . December 2022 .