IDK Announces Eminem Collaboration ‘WELCOME,’ Produced by J Dilla

IDK has released “WELCOME,” a new single featuring Eminem and produced by J Dilla. The track brings Eminem’s performance together with production credited to the late Detroit producer, and arrives with news that IDK has partnered with Shady Records and Interscope Records for all future releases.

IDK described the song as both a personal milestone and a moment for hip-hop. He said he began working on the music by looking up at the ceiling and thanking Dilla, as the opportunity took shape. “I knew this was an important opportunity and a statement for hip hop itself,” he said. IDK also recalled that the first rap album he owned was 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’, released through Shady, and that Eminem’s verses were among the first he made a point of memorizing.

A mini-documentary accompanying the announcement follows IDK from his early years in the DMV, where those artists helped inspire him to rap, to the present day. The “WELCOME” video is set in Detroit and moves through scenes of the city, including jitting, dice games, industrial locations, and warehouse parties. IDK also rides in a 2004 or 2005 Cadillac Escalade once owned by Dilla. Nissan, the son of Proof, drives the vehicle, connecting the visual to figures whose work intersected with Eminem and Dilla.

The single follows a year of varied projects for IDK. In June, he collaborated with Everything Is Recorded and Peter Gabriel on “Beyond The Brilliant Haze.” Earlier, he released the mixtape e.t.d.s. (even the devil smiles), featuring contributions from MF DOOM, Pusha T, RZA, Madlib, No I.D., and others. The project includes “START 2 FiNiSH – S.T.F,” produced by Kaytranada and featuring DMX in a posthumous collaboration approved by DMX’s estate. IDK and Kaytranada also performed with Black Thought on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

IDK’s recent work has also included the Son de L’Amour celebration in Washington, D.C., organized for Juneteenth with partners including the Smithsonian and the French Embassy, as well as a lecture series he produced and taught at Harvard University. The title “WELCOME,” he has suggested, signals the beginning of another chapter.

Listen to “WELCOME” here.