Simple. - IDK

REVIEWED: November 26, 2022

Shining the spotlight on an underrated artist, this week I am tackling Simple. by IDK. I discovered this project from my New Music Mix on Apple Music. IDK is not a mainstream rap artist, so I hadn’t seen any significant coverage of his newest drop. It is a relatively short listen, sitting at a mere 8 tracks with a coverage of 18 minutes.

The first track is Drugstore. I love the instrumental. It reminds me of some of the electronic songs I used to listen to in the summer of 2016. It is very catchy and makes you want to just get up and dance. I think it is a very mellow sound, nothing too aggressive. The hook includes a tantalizing female voice that is very addicting. Like the title of the project suggests, it is a simple song that similarly follows a simple formula, but sounds pleasing to the ear.

The following track is an interlude called Southeast to Paris. It is a nice interlude. It provides a great and logical flow to the next actual vocal track. It feels like elevator music in the best way possible, or rather, a loading screen in a video game. I would describe it as the perfect filler track, and I listen to it when I come back for a full-album play-through.

The next vocal track is Dog Food feat. Denzel Curry. The feature on this is perfect. As soon as I heard the beat, I knew Denzel would be a great fit. This is one of the tracks that lean more towards a rap sound playing on a unique beat, versus some of the others which sound like they came straight from the electronic playbook. This is another track on this project with a catchy hook that follows a simple rhyme scheme to keep me engaged. I love when I see artists use tried and true methods of songwriting to create a perfectly captivating and concise song. Denzel Curry shone brightly on this track. I was looking for more content from him after listening to his new album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, and finding this hidden gem did it for me. The different beat perfectly complements his delivery.

The succeeding track is titled Zaza Tree. This track keeps it short and sweet. IDK’s voice leans more into an R&B tone and blends excellently with the instrumental in a way that scratches the itch in my brain and I find it hard to press pause. The lyrical pattern is again, simple, but it sounds so good. The way it is crafted together is so satisfying to listen to. The hook of this song is another on the album that is just naturally catchy and addicting to listen to. In terms of album sequencing, there is a perfectly seamless transition from Zaza Tree to Breathe. On my first few listens, I didn’t even notice that these were two different songs. 

The next track is called Breathe. The hook being extremely catchy is a pattern that does not cease on this album, and it is especially evident here. I had barely finished listening to it and already found myself excitedly singing along. It combines all of the groovy elements of jazz and fuses them with a touch of newer alternative rap all over an electronic beat. As I mentioned in my Dinner Party review, I am not typically a fan of instrumental-dominant tracks, but as I get more into the jazz and electronic genres, I find myself thoroughly enjoying this track style more and more.

As we near the end of the project, we have the track Taco. This is another example of a seamless transition from one track to another, and I honestly thought Zaza Tree was just a long song with two beat switches. That is how smooth the track switch was. This song takes on a more hip-hop/rap sound, but the beat strangely enough touches more on aspects of jazz; seemingly paradoxical, but the result is an unexpectedly beautiful sound. 

Second-to-last is The Code feat. Mike Dimes. This sounds like spoken-verse poetry. The transition between more melodic tracks to more brash and out-there tracks on this short project is one of the most entertaining aspects for me. It keeps it action-packed in a short amount of time and makes it a worthwhile re-listen. 

Paris to Southeast, the final track and second interlude, has another smooth transition from the previous track. It ends the project off on an exuberant note, with a dream-like instrumental, and an excited crowd proclaiming their plans for a fun night. 

In conclusion, this was a great listen. I am glad I listened, as I found another personal Album of the Year contender in the last few weeks of the year. I would recommend this album and artist to anyone who likes Smino, Buddy, or JID. I would also recommend this to anyone who wants to dip their toes into the electronic genre fully but wants to keep the hip-hop elements present. Thank you so much for reading this week’s review, see you next Monday!