The Maryland rapper shared a studio photo with Eminem, and fans are eagerly awaiting a new song now, or maybe even an album.
The photo looks candid. Neither rapper is pretending to fiddle with the soundboard for a staged shot. They look solemnly into the lens, as if waiting for the interruption to end. Eminem, sitting behind IDK, is throwing fingers in his signature gesture of defiance.
The only word in the caption does not provide any explanation but seemingly matches the mood: “Welcome”.
A rare sighting of Eminem in his natural habitat, the studio, sent fans looking for an explanation of their own, since none was given.
Who is IDK?
IDK, whose name stands for Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge, has been delivering his “rap with substance” since the mid-2010s, releasing mixtapes and touring. From the very beginning, IDK established that Eminem had been one of his strongest influences, especially lyrically. IDK borrowed Em’s rhyme when he just started rapping and then called him a cousin online, confusing a lot of people who took his words literally.
However, the closest connection to Marshall was revealed in 2021, when IDK released “Dogs Don’t Lie” featuring Royce 5′9. IDK worked with one of Eminem’s closest friends and gave Marshall a direct shout-out in his verse, crediting Em for an important aspect of his own style:
My wit come from Ye, my swagger a little Jay
My humor from Eminem, this beat like Just Blaze
Get bitches like I’m Pharrell, am I lying? No, I’m for real
Do business like Iovine influenced, but I’m me.
Now, IDK sits next to Em, ready for something bigger to come.
Theories
The photo has some fans wondering if Eminem is welcoming IDK to Shady Records. The caption, though, came from IDK himself. On the other hand, the fact that Eminem was physically present in the studio with IDK is important. In the era when artists, Eminem included, just send their recorded verses to their collaborators, sharing a physical space with another artist is significant. Photos like that were posted to introduce Shady’s most recent signees, Grip and Ez Mil.
Moreover, IDK has his own label, which he started in 2019 under the Warner Music umbrella. He left Warner in 2024, moving to full independence in distribution. It seems that he is past the stage in his career when Shady Records could give him a boost. Meanwhile, a collab with Eminem will always be welcome.
So, for now a feature looks like the safest bet. IDK’s post went up in time to raise the expectations ahead of the possible Friday release. The question remains: who is a lead artist and who recorded a guest verse? The answer might be “Both”. We know that Eminem does not do his features for money. For him, it’s an act of participation in a creative ecosystem. He works with friends or he trades a verse for a verse, as Cordae explained. Yet even if both songs have already been recorded, we cannot expect that both would be released soon. If one drops on Friday 13 November, we can already consider ourselves lucky.
The bigger question is whether it could be a single from Eminem’s new album if he’s the lead artist and IDK is the guest. It might feel premature to speculate about an album when even a song is not confirmed. However, there are some indicators that this idea is not that outlandish. The signals about the approaching release have been coming from the Shady camp for some time, from Rosenberg to, recently, 50 Cent.
The reaction to IDK’s post is also interesting, as if fellow rappers saw it as the beginning of something bigger than a one-off collaboration. Cordae commented on an Instagram post shared by Eminem: “Yea it’s UP”. Denaun Porter shared a post in his stories, adding “And so it begins”.
Whatever that is, the fans are ready for it to begin. Hopefully, the wait won’t be long.