Prince George’s County, Maryland-rapper IDK (fka. Jay IDK) was a rapper that I was deeply into, at the beginning of last year when he released his 2017 debut commercial project, IWasVeryBad. I wanted to see him when he was performing with A$AP Ferg but was removed from the Toronto bill since Ferg rescheduled every date and put the rest of his tour in the summer, while Toronto was for May. Moving on, the consistency of IDK’s music releases, as well as his ability to rap through different sing productions and style established that he will be shaping the form of rap throughout the years. To promote his sophomore album, Is He Real, he started his Is He Really Touring tour and managed to put Toronto as one of his tour dates, and brought along Kemba (fka. YC the Cynic) to open up for him.
As far as the album, it is a great album, in terms of lyrics, storytelling, and production, and I recommend it for anyone to listen to and get a sense of his perspective of life. Starting his Toronto show at the Mod Club Theatre was Ottawa, ON-based rapper City Fedelia, and he warmed up the crowd with some good joints of his latest album, PainKiller. What I liked about his performance was that his rapping ability, wordplay, flow, and musical style are all on point and he managed to perform very well. As well, the consistency of his subject matter and the way he interacts with the crowd was pretty unique, when it comes to performing.
After City Fidelia’s set, Bronx, NY rapper Kemba (flat YC the Cynic) pulls up to the stage to perform various tracks and brings that raw, real hip hop to the crowd. In support of his latest project, Gilda, the variety of the tracks he performed were about the reminiscent memories of his mother and aunt, who were a vital inspiration to his music. Kemba managed to freestyle well, spit some very good bars and brought a unique, nonchalant style to his rap style. He rapped about a lot of subjects and he described various moments in his life, such as the death of his mother and aunt, rapping on stage in front of Kendrick Lamar, his upbringing, New York, and much more. The tone and style of his raps was much intimate and developed a sense of emotion to the crowd, whenever he spoke and how he initiated the verses. Being an East Coast rapper, he managed to maintain that hard-hitting demeanour and rapped through a variety of styles such as book bap rap, conscious rap, nonchalant rap, and much more.
After Kemba’s amazing set, the moment that we’ve all been waiting for was IDK coming to the stage with a white biodegradable body suit and he carried a lantern with him to start with the lighting of the show. He mainly performed tracks off Is He Real, such as Digital, Porno, Julia, 23, and Michael WTF, and he managed to never miss a line or note when he rapped bar for bar. IDK’s stage aesthetic and lightning was on point and everything that he set up was very amazing and great for production. He became very interactive with the crowd and had a fan come up to perform a part on his track Porno. His crowd participation and interaction with fans was very amazing. Like Kemba, he managed to rap on a variety of sub genres and different types of production. The way he performed as well as how he managed to sing for a little bit was pretty unique and vibrant. He brings a lot of personality when he performs, and tends to rap quite well as a top-tier lyricist in today’s current rap game.
The show finished off very well and it was one of my most anticipated shows to see since I’ve been listening to IDK since last year when he released IWasVeryBad. Overall, his performance on stage really amazes me and I was glad to have captured this moment. This was a show that I hope to see all artists again, if they were to perform in Toronto again. IDK will still continue on his tour until November 29th, 2019 at the MilkBoy ArtHouse in College Park, Maryland. You can find out more at www.ishereal.wtf.
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KEMBA
IDK
CITY FIDELIA
By: Joshua Habtwold | Exclusively for @Music, Why Not!
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