Album of the Year #5: IDK - USEE4YOURSELF - HipHop

Album of the Year #5: IDK - USEE4YOURSELF
Drakeo The Ruler Killed in Los Angeles - Memorial Thread
Drakeo the Ruler confirmed dead after stabbing at LA festival
Drakeo the Ruler-Talk To Me (feat. Drake)
[DISCUSSION] Drakeo the Ruler - So Cold I Do Em 2 (One Week Later)
The Pharcyde - Runnin'
Drakeo The Ruler - Flu Flamming
Westside Gunn feat. Benny the Butcher - GiGis
Three 6 Mafia - Ridin’ n’ tha Chevy
[DISCUSSION] /r/hhh predicted 2021 in hip-hop
Joji - Medicine
Playboi Carti - Molly (destxmido remix)
[FRESH] Bic Fizzle - Servin
Prefuse 73 - 140 Jabs Interlude feat. milo and Busdriver
CamilosGarden - All I Want for Christmas is Drill
Evidence - I Know
[FRESH] Crooks - Red Rum Redux (an ode to 90s Horrorcore out of London).

Album of the Year #5: IDK - USEE4YOURSELF

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 05:33 AM PST

Album: USEE4YOURSELF

Artist: IDK

Released: July 9, 2021

Listen:

Standout Features: Offset, Westside Gunn, SiR, T-Pain, Lucky Daye, Rico Nasty, Sevyn Streeter

Who is IDK

IDK, born Jason Mills is a Bowie, Maryland rapper whose first mixtape was released in 2014. At this point, he rapped under the name JayIDK. Mills started to garner attention with his second mixtape, SubTrap. Accounts suggest the mixtape stands either for Suburban Trap or Trap with Substance, but what's clear is that even early in his career, IDK was able to stand out amongst his peers. Early reviews skew towards the positive side of mixed, with much of the praise focusing on his esoteric rap style and the varied production. He followed the release with his third mixtape, Empty Bank in 2016, joined TDE's Isaiah Rashad on tour, and in 2017 continued his recorded output with his first full length album, IWASVERYBAD. Inspired in part by his time spent in a correctional facility for weapons charges, IWVB continued Mills' progression of left-of-center, inspired and brutally honest songwriting. At this point, Mills dropped Jay from his name and began performing under the name IDK. His next release, IDK and Friends :), was an EP that featured collaborations between IDK and artists like Rico Nasty, Maxo Kream, Denzel Curry and fellow DMV artist Wale. Shorter in length but no less compelling, IDK and Friends :) was the final step that he needed to release his debut studio album.

Titled Is He Real?,the album documents IDK's struggle with religion and understanding faith in God, his troubled upbringing and the death of his mother. The cover even speaks to the biblical parable of The Sheep and the Goat. Per Genius:

The artwork for the album represents this struggle further, as it is a reference to the Sheep and the Goats Parable. Specifically, it is a direct representation of this quote: "He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." (Matthew 25:33)

The album features DMX, Tyler, the Creator, Burna Boy and JID. While varied sonically and never overshadowed by his featured artists, critical reception to Is He Real? was more mixed than IWVB. Many found it to be less cohesive than IWVB and held back by its playlist-like sequencing. There is some validity to the criticisms, but you can see flashes of his genius in songs like "December" where IDK and Burna Boy trade melodies to the rhyme of Muder She Wrote, or "No Cable," buoyed by GLC's familiar and warm hood prayers. The one criticism that I disagree with, however, is the weakness in the variety of Is He Real?'s production. In my opinion, it works far more than it doesn't. More importantly, it foreshadows how IDK would approach the production for his next studio album and the subject of this write-up: USEE4YOURSELF.

What is USEE4YOURSELF

Released in the midst of 2021, USEE4YOURSELF is an album that refines IDK's myriad strengths to a much finer point. He himself has considered his primary art to be production and rap to be secondary, and as evidenced from the start of the album (3018091821), it's clear that the sonic aspects will be important. Every sound, from the pumping of limbs in a run to the buzz of a fly that's slapped away, feels expertly placed in the track. While this write-up won't go track-by-track, I wanted to point this out because the album itself is enveloping, and truly recorded in a way that rewards a focused and distraction-free listen. Part of this is because of how vibrant and sonically layered the production is and part of this is because IDK's rapping rewards a close listen. His flows often interpolate other melodies and rap elements (Red), lending his flows a chameleon-like versatility.

I hesitated to mention this, but I must acknowledge the verse by Jay Electronica in Red. Despite how impressive his flows or rhymes may be, it's a sad fact that he has glaringly anti-vax lines in here. It's a blemish on this song and on this album, and I think everyone should make sure they take proper steps to protect themselves from COVID-19 as best they can.

Looking at this album conceptually, it helps to see it in two parts. The first is IDK's womanizing, isolated sense of self. He's perfectly aware of his status as independent, both in his career Santa Monica Blvd and his love life (Red). He's a man who struggles to connect with love, instead losing his otherwise mindful self to lust and mistrust (10 Feet, Puerto Rico). For this version of IDK, money rules it all, his competition surrounds him and even the escape of sex and love serve only as temporary distractions. This version of IDK dominates the front half of this album, but the second half allows us a view of IDK's introspection. He self-diagnoses his behaviors, attributing them to the fractured relationship he had with his late mother (1995). There's a momentum to this half of the album, an unsettling rise that builds to the heartbreaking revelation that he is a survivor of sexual assault (Hey Auntie). It's tragic to hear his confession, to know that every boastful and headstrong line was a bluff to mask some of the most immense pain imaginable that comes from such a horrible betrayal of trust. Once the lynchpin is pulled, though, the floodgates open, and suddenly IDK is able to verbalize the ways in which he felt let down by his mother, and that despite his love for her, the way he grew up fucked him up (Cry in Church). The final song of the album loops back to his previous release, addressing the ultimate question on IS HE REAL? Put succinctly, the question of whether an all-knowing, all-loving God is real is impossible to answer until you've realized love in yourself (Closure).

Why Should I Listen to USEE4YOURSELF

Despite how heavy USEE4YOURSELF is at times, it is also a relatively easy listen. That's part of its genius, I think. Songs like "Peloton" are catchy and quotable, "Keto" exemplifies the dancefloor energy that IDK is so good at utilizing and songs like "Shoot My Shot" allow IDK to be in his rapper bag with full aplomb. For every fault lobbed at IDK for albums like IDK and Friends :) and IS HE REAL?, he manages to polish those into gemstone moments that are truly unique in comparison to much of his competition.

USEE4YOURSELF is a truly beautiful album, a beautiful showcase of growth and versatility and honesty and vulnerability from IDK. He's described the album as the one he needed to make to be a better person, and it's evident that there was a huge amount of baggage that he has started to let go of in this record. The journey that this record carried me on was one that I could not predict, and one that was imminently relatable as a black man in America.

Though my circumstances are very different from what IDK experienced, I can also say I know friends and acquaintances who, through their own admission or behaviors, struggled to break from the trauma of their youth. Kids who were cut off by their families who grew to idolize money and equate it with security, kids who lost the understanding of safety and boundaries because of an uncle or an aunt or a stepfather or a second cousin who betrayed them physically or emotionally, adults who are having to redefine what being a parent means because it wasn't until they were grown that they really had no healthy template of fatherhood.

And that's the true purpose of art, isn't it? To make something for listeners in which they see not only themselves in a new light but the people, places and circumstances around them? Isn't the truest of art the kind that lets you walk away with a bit more empathy and understanding for others? It's what IDK achieves here so fully, in my opinion, and it's an album that lends itself not to comparison to other artists but a celebration of who we see before us, fully, for the first time.

Can We Talk About USEE4YOURSELF?

This album has songs that are lighter and more catchy, and deeply personal confessionals. How do you feel about the duality of this album? Does it shine more in the lighter, hook-driven songs or the more personal and confessional ones?
Given the myriad features, interpolations and references on this album, what are your favorites? Least favorites?
Having listened to this album, where do you rank it among the other albums you've listened to this year?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Also thanks to u/thesuntalking for reminding me about proofreading my writing before I finalize it.

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Drakeo The Ruler Killed in Los Angeles - Memorial Thread

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 08:58 AM PST

Jeff Weiss confirmation

The Guardian article

Drakeo the Ruler, the critically acclaimed Los Angeles rapper, has died after a reported stabbing at a music festival. His press representative confirmed his death to the Guardian but did not give further details.

The 28-year-old, whose real name was Darrell Caldwell, had been scheduled to perform at the Once Upon a Time festival in Los Angeles. A source speaking to the LA Times said Caldwell had been attacked on the festival site by a group of people on Saturday evening. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he later died.

The festival's promoter, Live Nation, said: "There was an altercation in the roadway backstage. Out of respect for those involved and in coordination with local authorities, artists and organisers decided not to move forward with remaining sets so the festival was ended an hour early." A set by Snoop Dogg was cancelled.

Caldwell had not crossed into the mainstream, but was a hugely admired cult figure in his city's rap scene. He released his debut mixtape in 2015, and went on to release 10 more full-length projects.

In 2017, he was jailed for 11 months for illegal firearm possession. In March 2018, he was detained once more, on a murder charge dating back to a shooting incident in December 2016.

He continued to record music while incarcerated – the mixtape Thank You For Using GTL was recorded down a prison phone line – and was eventually acquitted of the murder charges in July 2019. After a plea deal for a charge of criminal conspiracy, he was released in November 2020.

After his release, he made the album The Truth Hurts, including the single Talk to Me with guest star Drake. Drake was among those paying tribute, writing on Instagram that Caldwell "always picked my spirit up with your energy".

The Los Angeles journalist Jeff Weiss, who had campaigned for his freedom, paid tribute, calling him "the greatest west coast artist of a generation, a legend who invented a new rap language of slippery cadences, nervous rhythms, and psychedelic slang".

There will be zero tolerance for disrespectful comments in this thread. Jokes or insults to the deceased will result in a ban. All songs by the artist and non-news posts about the artist (e.g. reactions, tributes, etc.) should be posted within this thread, any posted outside of this thread will be removed whether or not they violate subreddit rules.

RIP The Ruler

Statements from the hip hop community:

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Drakeo the Ruler confirmed dead after stabbing at LA festival

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 05:57 AM PST

submitted by /u/literalcorpse
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Drakeo the Ruler-Talk To Me (feat. Drake)

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 06:40 AM PST

submitted by /u/coso9288
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[DISCUSSION] Drakeo the Ruler - So Cold I Do Em 2 (One Week Later)

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 08:22 AM PST

RIP Drakeo

It was all good just a week ago when he blessed us with this 1,5 hour long collection of freestyles and new songs.

There are lots of highlights on this project, like him lyrically blacking out on the 6 minute long Betchua Freestyle, but it is best played in its full length (some tracks have a minute long "nothing" at their end where the tracks didn't get cut off, which now serve as moments of reflection).

Drakeo was an incredibly good rapper and this tape is just as good as the rest of his discography.

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The Pharcyde - Runnin'

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 04:19 AM PST

submitted by /u/thrawnsgstring
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Drakeo The Ruler - Flu Flamming

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 08:35 AM PST

submitted by /u/serohaze
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Westside Gunn feat. Benny the Butcher - GiGis

Posted: 19 Dec 2021 05:43 AM PST

submitted by /u/BryanWithoutB
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Three 6 Mafia - Ridin’ n’ tha Chevy