IDK: Meet the family
The rapper introduces us to the guests on his new mixtape IDK & Friends 2.
IDK was born in London and, these days, he’s based in LA. But having been raised in the city of Bowie, he’s a proud representative of the DMV – D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
The rapper was recently employed as the music supervisor of Kevin Durant’s Showtime documentary Basketball County: In The Water, which celebrates the constant stream of sport talent coming out of Maryland. And so his new mixtape IDK & Friends 2 functions as the show’s soundtrack, as well as the sequel to his 2018 project which featured kindred spirits such as Denzel Curry, Maxo Kream, Wale and Rico Nasty.
Listen to the mixtape here, and familiarise yourself with IDK’s friends below.
Denzel Curry
Relentlessly energetic Florida rapper and Raider Klan alumni.
Denzel is my brother. There’s no question about that. We had to do this. We always do music together and it always comes out great.
XanMan
DIY eccentric from Landover, Maryland.
XanMan is one of my favourite new rappers from back home. His style – like the off-beat flow, everything about him is just so intriguing to me and it’s so “I don’t give a fuck”. So you know, I always wanted to make music with him and see how that felt.
Rico Nasty
Alt girl rapper with rockstar energy.
That’s my sis. We’ve been doing it since the first IDK and Friends and she had to return. Me, her, Big Flock, YungManny and Big JAM and Weensey – it was perfect for that song [495]. We all are from the same area, and to have all these different types of artists on one song is all unprecedented for where we’re from. There’s a lot of beef around the area, a lot of people don’t like each other. So for me, having all them on one song is just, like, perfect.
Wale
D.C superstar.
Wale was [on this record] by default. He’s one of the friends from the original, so I had to bring him back!
Alex Vaughn
Soulful singer-songwriter from Capitol Heights, Maryland.
Alex came with the Wale record. Normally I maybe woulda changed who was on it, but she killed it so much that I had to keep her on it. It was perfect.
Maxo Kream
Houston rapper with no-holds-barred style.
Maxo is another returning friend. Me and him have good chemistry man. He’s always been a good stand up dude. I heard the song and I was ‘nah, Maxo should be on this’. Perfect.
A$AP Ferg
A$AP Mob star.
Ferg made the most sense on that song [Mazel Tof]. About five minutes after making it and listening to it, I called it and sent it to him. I was like “this is the perfect one” and he was like immediately, “I’m on it.”
Juicy J
3 6 Mafia pioneer. Probably one of the most influential artists in rap history.
[We did Square Up] within the same couple of days that I did the ASAP Ferg song. Juicy J was just one of those things where I heard the song, and was like “yo, he has to be on this”.
PNB Rock
Philly crooner and hook machine.
That was a new person added to this family, but he kinda reached out to me, I think. We had been following each other for a minute and he had been showing mad love for a while, you know, and it was just only right. He sent me a couple records and End of Discussion was the one I decided that I wanted to work on with him
Ronny J
Miami beatmaker who’s worked with Kanye, Denzel Curry, Ski Mask the Slump God and so many more.
You know, that’s my dog! I’ve been wanting to work with Ronny J. Getting him on this project was a great thing, because he’s one of my favourite producers period.
