Looking to bridge the gap between both the conscious and cool, DMV native Jay IDK announced the release of his highly anticipated debut body of work, SubTrap — short for Suburban Trap. In an email, Jay shared, “the album title is a paradox for trap music with substance.”

Loosely based on the life of the well-versed emcee, the forthcoming album gives an unbiased account of life on both sides of the drug game. Personified through the characters: Chris, Jon Jon, Matt, Ed and King Trappy III (pictured on the LP’s artwork). The albums 1st single “The Plug,” was liberated back in March (2015), hitting over 90k streams via Soundcloud.

Subtrap was mixed by Delbert Bowers (who is the engineer behind Yeezus, Long.Live.A$AP, andThe Marshall Mathers LP2) Lo-Mein​, Tim Webberson​, and Matt Weiss. The project’s artwork was crafted by graphic artist Nicky Chulo (who has worked with GoldLink, Chaz French and REVOLT TV), while production duties were split between in-house instrumentalist Lo-Fi, TDE’s frequent collaborator Skhyehutch, Tobari, GameBrand, The Glitch Mob, Noose, Mister Temptation, The Watcherz and Jay himself.

Jay continues to ignorantly deliver knowledge (yes, that’s what IDK stands for) to his fans and create a name for himself in the music industry. Check out the latest Civil Scope below, featuring Green Label’s “next artist to blow up in 2015“: Jay IDK. — Sabrina Vaz-Holder

Where are you from, and how has it affected your music?

Jay IDK: I’m from Maryland. On my latest project SubTrap growing up in the DMV area we all listen to go-go… which is the DMV’s native sound of music. I found a tasteful way to add elements of go-go to my music that people from the area may notice, but people outside the area have no idea. That’s one of the ways it affected my music tremendously.

How did you get your stage name?

Jay IDK: I thought about J Cole, Jay Z, J Dilla and a bunch of other Jay’s, and I was like I’m going to take the Jay thing and put IDK behind it so it can be something anonymous. I think that name would stand out like “who the hell is this?” Then I thought about the music I make. I came up with the ignorantly delivered knowledge thing. The music I made was somewhat ignorant yet somewhat with substance. So I finally realized that I wanted to fuse the two. I came up with Ignorantly Delivered Knowledge but originally it was going to be IDK period. The Jay came in when everyone was calling me Jay. So I ran with it.

When did you start rapping?

Jay IDK: Two and a half years ago.

Who are some of the biggest influences of your career?

Jay IDK: Definitely A Tribe Called Quest, Gucci Mane, Kanye West, Eminem, Big L –just to name a few.

Jay IDK: I don’t think people are going to expect how deep I go. This project has so much depth to it. The surface is trap music, having money, selling drugs, the typical things that trap music talks about. The thing they won’t expect is how deep I go into the whole trap thing. I go from the plug to the crackhead and give you perspectives of both sides.

What type of impact are you expecting SubTrap to leave for the Jay IDK brand?

Jay IDK: I’m not expecting anything. I don’t want to expect anything. I’m just gonna put my best foot forward and if one person downloads it at least that one person sees that they’re the only one who downloaded it and helps spread the word. As far as the team goes everyone believes the project will do well, and so do I.

What are a few lessons you are learning early on?

Jay IDK: There are a lot of scamming a** people in this game. You have to know how to maneuver. There’s a lot of people who don’t have your best interest at heart. One of the main things I learned honestly is you don’t need a manager until you need a manager. It’s important for you to build your brand by yourself to the point where you can’t build it anymore by yourself before you start worrying about managers and all that. I’ve been through things where people have left me hanging and left my situation and I had to be on my own and figure it out. I’m glad those things happened because now I can control my career no matter who steps in. I think that’s important.

What are your upcoming goals for the rest of the year, beyond SubTrap?

Jay IDK: This year will be my breakout year. I think that a lot of people will know who I am. I’ve played the album for about every label. I got to play it for Steve Rifkind in Los Angeles, and he was amazed by what he heard. We’re getting an industry buzz together… so this year will be a nice breakout year for the Jay IDK brand.

Purchase SubTrap here.

— Interviewed by Masani Musa