Maryland multi-talent IDK has been a Swiss Army knife for years, and it's very apparent once again on his latest effort, BRAVADO + INTiMO. The idea behind this body of work is to show off his mixture of bold and demonstrative side, as well as his more intimate and personal persona. This is presented both in the title of the project and of the tracks. Some have "(B)'s" or "(i)'s" next to them, which indicates the type of the vibe and tone you will hear on said record. It's split pretty much down the middle, and in a way, this is sort of double disc album. Leading up to its release, IDK put out four singles, three of which boasted features.
"DENiM" with Joey Bada$$, "TiFFANY" featuring Gunna, and the TheARTI$t-assisted "SUPERNOVA" were those cuts. Despite clean and accessible production that sounds pleasant to the ears, the performances themselves aren't too memorable. He's done more daring and replay-able things on projects like Simple. and F65, for example. The duality aspect is there, but the beats carry the experience for us at least. Overall, it may be a little to barebones on the lyrical front. IDK did say though, "My goal with this album was to simplify everything. With B.i., I just wanted to sing over beats that artists like MF DOOM would normally rap over and only rap when it felt the most natural." We can admire his dedication to stick to an idea, but we feel he's at his best when he takes more risks. Still, give BRAVADO + INTiMO a try and see what you think of it.
Bravado + Intimo - IDK
BRAVADO + INTiMO Tracklist:
- HELLO
- CELiNE iN THE TRAP (B)
- TiFFANY (B) with Gunna
- KiCKiN! (B)
- DENiM (B) with Joey Bada$$
- MiLES TRUMPET (i)
- CHECK! (B)
- PAPERCUTS (i)
- SWiTCH (i) with Conway the Machine
- SUPERNOVA (i) with TheARTI$t
- SEE YOU AGAIN (B.i.)
- GOODBi