Bowie, Maryland by way of Clapham, London, England, United Kingdom rapper, singer/songwriter & producer IDK making his Rhymesayers Entertainment debut with his 5th mixtape. Beginning to make waves in the spring of 2014 off his first 3 mixtapes profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to Williams Street Records in order to put out a 4th tape IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. He continued the grind by putting out a debut EP IDK & Friends as well as the full-length album Is He Real? & his 2nd EP IDK & Friends: Basketball County, but the sophomore effort USEE4YOURSELF was very underwhelming. Simple. however fully produced by KAYTRANADA wound up being his strongest body of work to date & F65 was a decent conceptual effort. Coming off BRAVADO + INTiMO a couple Halloweens ago, he’s reminding us all that Even the Devil Smiles.
After the JASON MiLLS” intro, the first song “HALO” produced by No I.D. hooks up some prominent synthesizers talking about how he keeps winning & stays running checks whereas “DEViL” jumps over a Madlib instrumental so he can warn everyone near him to run if they see him walking up to them. “P.O” featuring Black Thought takes the boom bap route thanks to KAYTRANDA beating up the block 24/7 leading into “CLOVER” featuring Joey Valence & Brae talking about the trio wanting to fall in love.
“C.O.P.” shifts back towards a boom bap vibe taking a more conscious approach to his songwriting giving middle fingers to the feds while “S.T.F (START TO FiNiSH)” aggressively sets out to make some paper because he’s a monster with it. “SCARY MERRi” keeps it dusty courtesy of Conductor Williams talking about every day being a holiday to him just before “Cell Block Freestyle (CD On)” drumlessly suggesting he’d make things heavier if his music career don’t take off.
As for “Flakka”, we have IDK talking about not resorting to violence & getting caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time while “MiSOYGNiSTiCAL” combines synths with kicks & snares explaining why he wants his first love to fail. “LiFE 4 A LiFE” featuring Pusha T grittily talks about everyone around their parts knowing neither of them fuck around but after “Everybody Knows :)” points out that we all know a fraud when we see one, “SCRAMBLED EGGS – TBC :(“ spends the last 3 minutes talking about being in situations others haven’t come back from.
Until I get to my closing thoughts regarding Even the Devil Smiles, I want to send my deepest thoughts & condolences to the people over at Rhymesayers Entertainment’s headquarters over at Minneapolis, Minnesota during these weird & scary times they’re experiencing right now. Regarding the music on here however, it’s easily the most I’ve enjoyed IDK’s music since Simple. & makes a great debut for a label that’s been on a run since 2025 that deserves the same respect Mass Appeal Records got. The production is a huge improvement over his last couple solo projects & the guests compliment him outstandingly.
Score: 9/10