The DMV did it bigger in Texas.
Although Pusha T delivered the 32nd show of his “It’s Almost Dry Tour,” making his way down to Austin on Wednesday (Oct. 12), the energy felt as if it was opening night. After the tour’s Phase 1 included 13 dates with AG Club as its opener, Phase 2 welcomed PG County, MD native IDK to the stage — who grew up nearly four hours away from Push’s hometown of Virginia Beach.
Sandwiching a raucous DJ set from Just Blaze — record scratching his way through a setlist of mostly JAY-Z and DipSet/Cam’ron hits — both IDK and Push’s performances executed a tremendous blend of many of their fan-favorite tracks from their respective 2022 albums It’s Almost Dry and Simple. Catching up with him on his tour bus after the show, IDK emphasized how grateful he is to be on the road with Push and how much support he’s gotten from the GOOD Music president.
“I feel amazing, it’s an amazing opportunity,” he said. “Being on tour with someone whose music you were a fan of before you even got anywhere, I think all that sh*t is amazing. I love that about Push and he’s embraced me and given me a lot of good energy, so I respect him heavily for that.”
After opening his set with “Santa Monica Blvd” and “Dogs Don’t Lie” off his 2021 album USEE4YOURSELF, the projector behind IDK boldly displayed the text “FREE YSL” — ushering in two of the next three tracks to be “Pradadabang” and “Free Slime.” The former features Young Thug and landed on USEE4YOURSELF while the latter sees IDK rap about “dodging supboenas” and the “feds watchin,” in reference to the recent YSL RICO case. After the show, IDK spoke more in-depth about this advocacy for Young Thug, aka “Slime,” and his situation.
“I think it has brought awareness to the fact that things that we do and say in our music can actually lead to us getting prosecuted,” he said. “It’s making a lot of people just think twice before they put certain things in their music and that does kill the free expression of art and makes it a little bit harder to rap. But I think that’s something that we’ll overcome and figure out.”
Throughout the rest of his set, IDK performed three of the eight tracks from Simple — his May collaborative album with famed dance music instrumentalist KAYTRANADA. He spoke about how the album came together after they connected at a Jordan brand party KAY was DJ-ing for, and why many mainstreams acts like Beyoncé and Drake went the dance music route in 2022.
“It was just doing a couple songs (at first), but then it became, ‘Wait, let’s see what a project would sound like.’ His team and him came up with the idea,” he said. “I think it’s something in the air. It’s a feeling, it’s a vibe, it’s a want for change in music.”
Adding this sound to his continuously growing bag of genres he’s tackled, IDK says Simple and his recent two-pack W13, which included “Free Slime,” helped him become an artist that can’t be boxed in. Ultimately, he hopes to build up a catalog where fans can decide which version of him they like the best and grow their fandom based on that.
“I think I’m evolving towards not having boundaries and learning the lines of whatever I should be musically,” he said. “I’m creating music for people to choose and pick. I’m creating a catalog for people who create their own playlists. So, I have many different types of songs and I want people to pick the songs they like from me and create their vibe of what IDK is to them.”
Following up IDK and Just Blaze with a headlining set, Pusha T played 11 of the 12 tracks from his self-proclaimed “Album of the Year” released in April, as well as classic GOOD Music hits like “Mercy” and “New God Flow.” Despite solely collaborating on their 2019 track “Porno” off Is He Real?, IDK says he and Push aim to follow that up with more collaborations in the future.
“I don’t know about ‘Porno 2’ but we definitely want to make some more music together,” he said.
Ultimately, the positive vibes that emanated from the tour are palpable. Even though he and Push love being on stage and performing the songs that built up their fanbases, when asked what his favorite moments on tour have been, IDK kept it Simple.
“I think these ones [our conversation], because it’s us coming together as a unit and a family and all of our teams growing,” he said. “I think me being the kind of leader that I am, I’m pushing everybody to grow, not just musically or professionally but just as men and women. I think the best part of this tour is everybody going up.”
Check out more IDK and Pusha T below!
