Record curation by .idk.

.idk. has made a career out of problem-solving. Since emerging from PG County in 2015, the DMV artist has used a philosophical streak and musical craftsmanship to decode mysteries of the soul and society. He continues that tradition on F65, a sprawling meditation on materialism, love, and Black manhood. Equal parts artist and professor (literally), .idk., born Jason Mills, is continuing a mission that began a long time ago. He was raised in a middle-class household, but an arrest for armed robbery made him the first person in his family to go to jail.

As of seven years ago, he was the first to be a rap star. And after launching his industry education program, No Label Academy, two years ago, he also began to teach at Harvard. He unloaded his debut project, Sex, Drugs & Homework, in 2014. In 2017, .idk. solidified his knack for pairing trenchant street tales with accessible millennial musings with IWASVERYBAD. From there, .idk. only got more introspective. His major debut, Is He Real?,is a contemplation on the existence of God, while his follow-up LP, 2021’s USEE4YOURSELF, unpacks his own trauma as he arrives at new conclusions about his destiny.

In 2022, he teamed up with electronic music icon Kaytranada for Simple, an effort that zeroed in on the intricacies of Black plight in his city. Now, with its combination of earnest questions, emotional transparency, and musical dynamism, F65 cultivates a climate for folks to absorb the lessons he’s sharing on their own terms.