(ClueNoClue)
The US rapper and Harvard mentor’s inventive, trap- and jazz-influenced tunes are let down by unreconstructed lyrics

In the 10 years since releasing his first mixtape, IDK has evolved into an authoritative rapper with a solid back catalogue, flipping smoothly between singing and rhyming. Outside the booth, the 32-year-old Marylander, real name Jason Mills, is an enthusiastic mentor, running a Harvard music industry academy. Inside, he’s well-respected enough to collaborate with A-listers such as Snoop and Burna Boy as well as underground acts including MF Doom and Sad Night Dynamite. So why isn’t IDK better known? Bravado + Intimo offers clues.

The album comprises 12 solid trap- and jazz-influenced tracks, shiny like a Sunday-morning butcher’s knife rather than smoky speakeasy vibes. Yet IDK’s rhymes rarely rise to the beats’ level, and are never as mischievous as on last year’s F65. Check! exemplifies this: a panel-beating thunderer studded with alternately perky and melancholic keys. Its rhythm is infinitely more involving than IDK’s pungent – and presumably well-researched – thoughts on “titties and ass”.