IDK: The Message

Those in the know have long understood the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area to harbour a wealth of talented MCs, but the scene has yet to rise to national prominence the way locales like Houston, Memphis, or Atlanta have. Maryland-hailing MC IDK has a few theories as to why: “I think it's a lot of segregation in rap in general,” he tells Ebro in the latest edition of The Message. “When you bring it to the DMV, that segregation is even more prominent. And I think it's a thing between the street artists and then the other artists that some would consider weird, or different. The other thing is just a lot of conflict between artists, especially on the street side: You'll have one group of people from one area, another group of people from another area, so it makes it hard—when everybody's popping—to come together. In other cities, a lot of the time they work together and increase everybody's profile. But right now it's like one doesn't want the other to get ahead of them.” IDK, who preaches a strategy of unity for region-wide ascendance, does his best to give all his favourites their due on his The Message playlist, highlighting selections from artists like Shy Glizzy, No Savage, Cruddy Murda, Balla, and Walkdown Will.