IDK Drops New Single Featuring DMX Over Pulsing Kaytranada Production

Rapper, singer, producer, and cultural architect IDK just dropped “S.T.F”, a kinetic speaker-knocker produced by Kaytranada and featuring the late legend DMX.

“S.T.F” first played at the LeBron James “Forever King Tour” in Shanghai, China earlier this month. It is the first posthumous collaboration that Desiree Lindstrom and Sasha Simmons, co-administrators of the Estate of Earl “DMX” Simmons, have cosigned since his passing. 

“S.T.F” is IDK‘s tribute to the spirit of a long-time creative co-conspirator. DMX had previously appeared on .idk.‘s breakthrough projects Is He Realand USee4Yourself.

“It means a lot to have artists like .idk. and Kaytranada tap into Earl’s energy and create something that is fresh and authentic to who he was,” say Lindstrom and Simmons. “He set this collaboration in motion before he passed, so it was important for us to see his vision become a reality.” 

IDK shares more context: “Back in 2020, I recorded a song for DMX called ‘Dream.’ After he passed, I always wondered what happened to it. Years later, while going through a folder of beats Kaytranada had sent me, one I originally passed on stood out — and my first thought was how X’s verse might sound on it. I reached out to Pat Gallo, and when he sent me the vocals, they locked in perfectly. Somewhere out there, the full DMX verse from the original record still exists, but what you hear now is the piece that became ‘START 2 FiNISH’ – S.T.F.”

IDK‘s expansive work fuses sharp lyricism with high-concept vision. Born in London and raised in Maryland, he has built a reputation for pairing uncompromising storytelling with expansive creative direction, bridging street reality, philosophy, and art. With over one billion global streams and press notices from the likes of GQ, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Billboard, i-D, and Complex, IDK‘s built a formidable catalogue while maintaining a fierce sense of independence. 

“S.T.F” is the first preview of a new project inspired by mixtape culture and informed by IDK’s own journey through the criminal justice system.