Is He Real (IDK Album)
Is He Real? is the debut studio album by American rapper IDK. It was released on September 4, 2019, through Clue No Clue with exclusive liscense to Warner Records.[1] It features guest appearances from DMX, Tyler, The Creator, Pusha T, JID, GLC, and Burna Boy; Frank Ocean was removed from the album due to last minute clearance issues.[2]
| Is He Real? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by IDK | ||||
| Released | September 4, 2019 | |||
| Genre | Hip Hop | |||
| Length | 35:46 | |||
| Label | Warner | Clue No Clue | |||
| Producer | IDK, Rascal (25), D-Tonez, Shkye Hutch, Eden Eliah Nagar, Razjah, BLWYRMIND, Dante Marinelli, Frank Dukes, DJ Alizay, Obi Nwadjie, Wallis Lane, Calvin Valentine, Efosa Beloved, Kal Banx, Thelonious Martin | |||
| IDK chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Is He Real? | ||||
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The album was announced in 2017 and was set to release in 2018. The album then got postponed and later released in 2019, with IDK & Friends :) (stylized in all caps) releasing in 2018. To promote the album, IDK posted a website called Ishereal.wtf so fans could track the album’s progress. The album was then released on September 4, 2019, in honor of Beyoncé’s birthday. [3]
The album’s cover art references the Sheep and the Goats Parable, specifically Matthew 25:23:
He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
The album’s title is a play on the word Israel, which means to fight with God. Throughout the album, he struggles with his faith and questions the existence of God, and ends up without a clear answer.[citation needed]
Background
[edit]In an interview with Genius, IDK said:
The start of conceptualising this album is the questions that I’ve been asking myself my whole life. I remember I was three years old and my aunt told me about God for the first time and she said: “If you’re bad you go to hell. If you’re good you go to heaven. When you go to heaven, it’s all of these wonderful things you can get, all the toys that you want, you get all of these beautiful candy, all of that stuff. And God is gonna love you. If you go to hell you not gonna like it”. It’s pretty much what I remember. That was my first time ever having any understanding or the thought even of the concept of religion. And that was the start of the battle that I kinda had the rest of my life. So with this album, I like to say I been making it my whole life because it’s all based off of things that I’ve been thinking for a while and then just kinda finding a way to put it into my music. I always wanted to make this album, but I kinda wanted to wait a little bit because I always felt like it was never the right time. There were things still going through in my mind, there were battles I was still having, you know? So that’s kinda how it started though.
Critical Reception
[edit]| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AlbumOfTheYear.org | 70/100[4] |
| MusicBoard | 3.6/5[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork | 6.3/10 [6] |
| Anthony Fantano | 6/10[7] |
Track Listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Jason Mills
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cloud Blu" | 1:15 |
| 2. | "42 Hundred Choices" | 1:35 |
| 3. | "The “E” in Blue" | 0:53 |
| 4. | "Alone" | 2:54 |
| 5. | "24" | 1:52 |
| 6. | "Lilly" | 1:48 |
| 7. | "Porno" | 3:21 |
| 8. | "I Do Me… You Do You" | 1:33 |
| 9. | "December" | 3:30 |
| 10. | "European Skies" | 3:40 |
| 11. | "No Cable" | 3:04 |
| 12. | "Digital" | 3:22 |
| 13. | "Michael What TF" | 2:35 |
| 14. | "Julia…" | 4:24 |
| Total length: | 35:46 | |
Notes
[edit]24 and Digital, the two singles on the album, were featured in the Madden 20 and NBA 2K20 soundtracks, respectively. [3]
The last letter of each song spells out the name of his second studio album, USee4Yourself.
References
[edit]- ^ Pearce, Sheldon. "IDK: Is He Real?". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
- ^ Saponara, Michael (2019-09-04). "IDK Recruits Tyler, the Creator, Pusha T, DMX and More For Star-Studded 'Is He Real?' Album: Stream it Now". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
- ^ a b "Is He Real? by IDK". Genius. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
- ^ "IDK - Is He Real? - Reviews". Album Of The Year. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Reviews of Is He Real? by IDK - Musicboard". MusicBoard. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ Pearce, Sheldon. "IDK: Is He Real?". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
- ^ Fantano, Anthony. "IDK - Is He Real? ALBUM REVIEW". YouTube. Retrieved 31 December 2024.