Jason Aaron Mills (born May 24, 1992), professionally known as IDK, stylized as .idk. (also known as Jay IDK; a backronym for Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge), is a British-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Early life

Jason Aaron Mills was born on May 24, 1992, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England to parents of

Sierra Leonean The demographics of Sierra Leone are made up of an indigenous population from 18 ethnic groups. The Temne in the north and the Mende in the south are the largest. About 60,000 are Krio, the descendants of freed slaves who returned to Sierra L ...

and

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

descent. He was raised in

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, where he later started to make music initially under the

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

Jay IDK.

Career

In August 2014, Mills released his second mixtape, titled ''SubTrap''. The name stands for Suburban Trap or "trap music with substance". The album features the singles "The Plug," "God Said Trap (King Trappy III)" and "Cookie Addiction" featuring

BJ the Chicago Kid Bryan James Sledge (born November 23, 1984), better known by his stage name BJ the Chicago Kid (or simply BJ), is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Sledge is best known for frequently collaborating with Top ...

. It features production from Skhye Hutch, was mixed by Lo Mein, Tim Webberson, Matt Weiss, and Delbert Bowers. Project management for Subtrap was overseen by Blade Thornton, David Kuti, Clayton Barmore, Quinelle Holder, and Ryan Booth. Mills' style of rapping has been compared to the early work of

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, especially Lamar's 2011 album '' Section.80''. On June 22, 2016, Mills was announced as one of the performers at the 2016 Trillectro Music Festival. On September 9, 2016, Mills released his third mixtape ''Empty Bank'' and premiered it on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

. Mills opened for

Isaiah Rashad Isaiah Rashad Joel McClain (born May 16, 1991) is an American rapper. He first gained recognition following his performances on the 2012 Smoker's Club Tour alongside rappers Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA. He is a founding member of the Chat ...

on his "The Lil Sunny" tour which started in January 2017. On October 13, 2017, Mills released his fourth mixtape '' IWasVeryBad'', which was released for free in collaboration with

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

. Mills later released the first six songs of the album as a series on

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

. This series gave the album visuals and a new story. The first six songs were part of the first season, with the second season going unreleased, which assumingly would've included the last six songs. On November 9, 2018, Mills released his first EP ''IDK & Friends :)''. On September 4, 2019, Mills released his debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Is He Real'', including features from

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

, DMX,

JID Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscop ...

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He gained recognition in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album '' ...

, and GLC. On June 26, 2020, Mills released his second EP ''IDK & Friends 2'', which was used as the soundtrack for Kevin Durant's '' Basketball County'' Documentary. On July 9, 2021, Mills released his second studio album, '' USee4Yourself'', including features from

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

, Offset,

Westside Gunn Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, is an American Rapping, rapper and fashion designer. He co-founded the Independent record label, hip-hop record label Griselda Records in 2012 with his paternal half- ...

, MF Doom,

Jay Electronica Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as ), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he first saw recognition wit ...

Lucky Daye David Debrandon Brown (born September 25, 1985), known professionally as Lucky Daye, is an American R&B singer-songwriter from New Orleans. He signed with Keep Cool Records and RCA Records to release his first two extended plays, ''I'' (2018) ...

SiR ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

Swae Lee Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Lee first saw mainstream recognition as one half of the Mississ ...

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper from Prince George's County, Maryland. She began Self-publishing, self-releasing while in high school, and had released five solo mixtapes by ...

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His songs " The Show" and ...

Sevyn Streeter Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter (born July 7, 1986)

, and more. On April 29, 2022, Mills opened for

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

as part of

WILD Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildlife, an undomesticated organism * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild ...

. On May 1, 2022, Mills performed at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

as part of Worthstock. On May 6, 2022, Mills released his third studio album, ''Simple'', which included features from

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper. Born and raised in Miami Gardens, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape, ''King Remembered Underground Tape 1991–1995 ...

and Mike Dimes, and was executively produced by

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

. On May 5, 2023, Mills released his fourth studio album, ''F65'', including features from

Fat Trel Martrel Reeves (born June 26, 1990), better known by his stage name Fat Trel, is an American rapper. He is currently signed to MGE The Label with distribution of Asylum Records. He was previously signed to Rick Ross's label Maybach Music Group ...

NLE Choppa Bryson LaShun Potts, (born November 1, 2002), known professionally as NLE Choppa (previously YNR Choppa), is an American rapper and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. He gained recognition with the release of his 2019 single " Shotta Flow", ...

, Jucee Froot,

Saucy Santana Rashad Jamiyl Spain (born October 8, 1993), known professionally as Saucy Santana, is an American rapper and songwriter who began his career as a makeup artist for the hip hop duo City Girls, and soon after embarked on a recording career in Feb ...

, Tay Iwar,

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild (or simply Musiq; pronounced "music") is an American singer-songwriter. His music blends Rhythm and blues, R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, ...

Rich The Kid Dimitri Leslie Roger (born July 13, 1992), known professionally as Rich the Kid, is an American rapper. After a number of independent mixtapes, he signed with Interscope Records in 2017 to release his debut studio album, '' The World Is Yours'' ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and Benny the Butcher.

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Guest appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IDK 1992 births Living people Musicians from Prince George's County, Maryland African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 21st-century American rappers Warner Records artists 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers American trap musicians American hip-hop singers Singer-songwriters from Maryland Rappers from Maryland Singers from London Rappers from London English male singer-songwriters English male rappers English record producers Black British male rappers 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers Record producers from Maryland British emigrants to the United States