With IDK joining the Shady Records roster, Eminem teamed up with the DMV-bred rapper for the fittingly titled new single “Welcome” on Friday (Nov. 13). The song also features production from the late, great Detroit beatmaker J Dilla.
Dilla sets the tone with his signature thumping drums and a menacing beat, which Em catches for a sinister chorus. “Welcome to the party where everybody dies at the end/ Move your body/ This is ’bout to be a homicide scene/ I think you are not mean when I scream,” he raps.
Slim Shady didn’t put a verse on “Welcome,” as it appears he wanted IDK to fully shine. The 34-year-old makes the most of his moment next to Em, showing off his dexterity as a rhymer. “We run this s–t, y’all n—as walk/ That’s why she twerkin’ all that a– when she take it off/ You— you know we talk that slick talk, that slick talk,” IDK raps while shrewdly sneaking in an interpolation of Future’s 2016 hit “Stick Talk.”
A black-and-white visual accompanied the release, which finds Eminem making an appearance alongside IDK. They take turns rapping in an apartment building hallway before IDK hits the town.
It’s a new era for IDK, who signed to Shady Records in partnership with Interscope Records. Hype for a possible Eminem collab surged earlier this week when the duoposed for a photo together in the studio on social media.
“When I first started working on this music, I remember looking up at my ceiling and saying, ‘Thank you’. I was speaking to Dilla because it felt like everything that could have been, in a way, started to clear itself organically,” IDK said in a statement. “I knew this was an important opportunity and a statement for hip-hop itself.”
He continued: “The first rap album I’ve ever owned was 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. A Shady Records release. The first raps I made it a point to memorize were Eminem raps. I’ve been at it for some time now, so to be at the point in my journey seems surreal. I’m excited for this next chapter in my career.”
IDK released his e.t.d.s. (Even the Devil Smiles) project in January, which featured appearances from hip-hop heavyweights such as RZA, Pusha T, the late DMX and MF DOOM as well as Black Thought and No ID.
Watch the “Welcome” video below.