Jump to content

USee4Yourself

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USee4Yourself
A shot of a shirtless IDK wearing a do-rag and looking sideways on a yellow background
Cover for standard and Complete editions; deluxe edition features a blue background
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 9, 2021
GenreHip hop[1]
Length43:51
Label
Producer
IDK chronology
IDK & Friends 2
(2020)
USee4Yourself
(2021)
Simple.
(2022)
Singles from USee4Yourself
  1. "Shoot My Shot"
    Released: April 16, 2021
  2. "Peloton"
    Released: June 11, 2021
  3. "PradadaBang"
    Released: July 2, 2021
  4. "Red"
    Released: July 9, 2021

USee4Yourself (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by American rapper IDK. It was released on July 9, 2021, through Clue No Clue and Warner Records.[2] It features guest appearances from Young Thug, Offset, Westside Gunn, the late MF Doom, Jay Electronica, Lucky Daye, Sir, T-Pain, the Neptunes, Swae Lee, Rico Nasty, Slick Rick, and Sevyn Streeter; Trippie Redd, Jvck James, Shy Glizzy, Lil Yachty, JID, Kenny Mason, and Royce da 5'9" additionally feature on its deluxe edition. IDK primarily handled production himself, alongside high-profile producers including ATL Jacob, DJ Dahi, CashMoneyAP, and T-Minus. It serves as a sequel to his debut album Is He Real? (2019), and follows IDK & Friends 2 (2020), his soundtrack for the documentary Basketball County: In the Water.

Background

[edit]

IDK stated, "I needed to make this album to become a better person", and expressed during the process, "took away a sense of fear... of people finding out who I am".[3][4]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Clash8/10[7]
Gigwise[1]
HipHopDX[8]
The Line of Best Fit[9]
NME[10]

USee4Yourself received "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 5 reviews.[5]

Track listing

[edit]
USee4Yourself – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."3018091821"
1:11
2."Santa Monica Blvd"Mills2:41
3."Dogs Don't Lie"
1:57
4."Truth"Mills
  • IDK
  • Blue Rondo[c]
0:33
5."PradadaBang" (with Young Thug)
2:25
6."Shoot My Shot" (with Offset)
2:52
7."Red" (with Westside Gunn, MF Doom, and Jay Electronica)
  • IDK
  • Illingsworth
  • Blue Rondo[c]
  • Obi Nwadije[c]
4:15
8."Jelly"
  • Mills
  • Cooper
  • IDK
  • Blue Rondo
0:43
9."Puerto Rico" (with Lucky Daye)
3:17
10."Temporary Love" (with Sir)
  • IDK
  • Blue Rondo[c]
1:07
11."10 Feet" (with T-Pain)
  • Mills
  • DeNesha Bowser
2:58
12."Keto" (with the Neptunes, Swae Lee, and Rico Nasty)The Neptunes2:21
13."1995"
  • Mills
  • Rominiecki
  • IDK
  • Stonegroov
  • Blue Rondo[a]
  • Buddah Blessed[a]
4:08
14."Peloton"3:33
15."Hey Auntie" (with Slick Rick)
  • IDK
  • LDG Beats
  • Teddy Roxpin
  • Blue Rondo[c]
  • Eden Eliah Nagar[a]
3:22
16."Cry in Church" (with Sevyn Streeter)
  • IDK
  • Rascal
  • Blue Rondo[a]
4:47
17."Closure"MillsIDK1:34
Total length:43:51
USee4Yourself – Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
18."Dinner Date" (featuring Trippie Redd)
2:46
19."Temporary Love" (featuring Sir; extended version)
  • Mills
  • Farris
4:16
20."Puerto Rico" (featuring Jvck James; version 2)
  • IDK
  • Rascal
  • Blue Rondo[c]
  • Buddah Blessed[c]
3:18
21."2 Cents" (featuring Shy Glizzy; extended version)
  • IDK
  • Rascal
2:24
22."Justin Like Martin"Mills
  • IDK
  • Chasethemoney
2:33
23."King Alfred Plan" (featuring Lil Yachty)
  • IDK
  • Tane Runo
  • Blue Rondo[a]
2:37
24."Cereal" (featuring JID and Kenny Mason)
3:19
25."Rain" (SWV cover)Brian Alexander Morgan
  • IDK
  • Nagar
3:46
26."Dogs Don't Lie" (featuring Royce da 5′9″; extended version)
  • DJ Dahi
  • McKenzie
  • IDK[c]
  • Blue Rondo[a]
2:57
Total length:70:50

Notes

  • ^[c] signifies a co-producer.
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
  • The Complete Edition features instrumentals of all standard edition tracks.
  • "Dogs Don't Lie" contains a sample of "Cracking", written by Brian Aronow, Jesse Brotter, Jonathan Gilad, and Caroline Ramani, and performed by Crumb.
  • "Red" contains a sample of "Hier Aujourd'hui Demain" written and performed by Michel Ripoche and Phillipe Briche; and interpolations of "Still Fly", written by Byron Thomas and Bryan Williams, and performed by Big Tymers.
  • "Puerto Rico" contains a sample of "Nature Boy", written by Eden Ahbez, as performed by the Singers Unlimited, and an interpolation of "Can't Get Enough", written by LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, and Kelly Price, and performed by Tamia.
  • "10 Feet" contains a sample of "Monkey on the D$ck", written by Renetta Lowe and Byron Thomas, and performed by Magnolia Shorty.
  • "Peloton" contains a sample of "Payback Is a Dog", written by Thomas Bell and Kenneth Gamble, and performed by the Stylistics.
  • "Hey Auntie" contains a sample of "Love Theme" from the Black Shampoo soundtrack, written and performed by Gerald Lee.
  • "Cry in Church" contains a sample of "The Prayer IV", written and performed by DMX.

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

  • IDK – vocals (all tracks), programming (tracks 18, 25, 26)
  • Aishah White – additional vocals (tracks 1, 17)
  • Andrew Schulz – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Javonté – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Eden Eliah Nagar – drum programming (track 2)
  • Mike Tyson – additional vocals (track 3)
  • Blue Rondo – additional vocals (track 10), programming (19, 25, 26)
  • Jason Brown – additional vocals (track 10)
  • Mother Marygold – additional vocals (track 11)
  • City Rominiecki – additional vocals (tracks 12, 13)
  • DMX – additional vocals (track 16)
  • Take a Daytrip – programming (track 18)
  • Westen Weiss – programming (track 18)
  • D Smoke – programming (track 19)
  • D.K. the Punisher – progrmaming (track 19)
  • DJ Dahi – programming (track 26)
  • Kurtis McKenzie – programming (track 26)

Technical

  • Calin Enache – mixing (tracks 1–4, 6, 10, 11, 14–24, 26), mastering (17–26), engineering (2, 3, 9, 11, 14, 15, 21)
  • Josh Gudwin – mixing (track 2)
  • Mike Dean – mixing (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9, 11–13), mastering (1–17)
  • Eden Eliah Nagar – mixing (tracks 8, 25), engineering (all tracks), mixing assistance (1–7, 9–24, 26)
  • Vic Wainstein – engineering (tracks 2, 5, 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 21)
  • Chaz Sexton – engineering (tracks 9–11, 15, 19, 20)
  • Kouroush "MyBoyRoach" Poursalehi – engineering (track 9)
  • Mike Larson – engineering (track 12)
  • Kahlil Vellani – engineering (tracks 14, 18, 22, 23)
  • Kai Lasker – engineering (track 14)
  • Bernard "Bezo" Chavez II – engineering for Sevyn Street (track 16)
  • Anthony Kilhoffer – engineering (track 18)
  • Robert "Nimbusmixedit" Middleton – engineering (track 21)
  • Christo – engineering (track 24)
  • Kenny Mason – engineering (track 24)
  • IDK – arrangement (track 12)
  • Frank Hamilton – arrangement (track 23)
  • Guy Carawan – arrangement (track 23)
  • Pete Seeger – arrangement (track 23)
  • Zilphia Horton – arrangement (track 23)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Maplethorpe, Dale (July 9, 2021). "Album Review: IDK – USee4Yourself". Gigwise. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  2. ^ "IDK | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  3. ^ "On New Album, Rapper IDK Reconciles A Disparate Self: 'And Here We Are Today'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  4. ^ "IDK's Vulnerability Is a Superpower". Complex. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  5. ^ a b "USee4Yourself by IDK". Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  6. ^ "USee4Yourself – IDK". AllMusic.
  7. ^ "IDK – USee4Yourself". Clash Magazine.
  8. ^ Brake, David Aaron (July 28, 2021). "IDK Sabotages His Vision on USee4Yourself". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  9. ^ McMullen, Chase (July 13, 2021). "IDK balances emotional weight with silky beats on the diverse USee4Yourself". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "IDK – USee4Yourself album review". NME. 7 July 2021.