IDGAF
by Drake (featuring Yeat)

Album: For All the Dogs (2023)
Charted: 5 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "IDGAF" is a joint track between Drake and Yeat. Portland rapper and producer Yeat is known for his unique flow and infectious, repetitive beats. You've likely caught on, but just to spell it out: the song title stands for "I Don't Give F--k."
  • Drake drops a verse that's part introspection and part industry commentary. He flexes on his achievements, shares experiences, and addresses some of his past conflicts.
  • Yeat takes over the rest of "IDGAF," rapping about his nonchalant vibe. With his wealth, talent, and fame, he's so above it all, he doesn't even bother wasting energy on those below him.
  • Yeat has his own unique lingo, which he often uses in his music and social media posts. Some of his signature words include "tonka," "yuh," and "bonka." His fans have adopted his lingo and it has become a part of the rapper's signature style.

    Another unfamiliar word in Yeat's lexicon is "twizz," meaning a close friend. "Twizz" appears in the "IDGAF" lyrics seven times, including once in Drake's verse.

    In Seattle, it's just me and Twizz

    Drake takes us back to his It's All A Blur Tour stop in Seattle, where he brought out Yeat for a shoutout.
  • The vocal sample you hear at the beginning is from British jazz trio Azimuth's 1977 song "The Tunnel."

    "The Tunnel" is a futuristic track that describes being trapped in darkness with no escape. The vocalist is Norma Winstone, an 82-year-old jazz singer. Winstone had written the words for "The Tunnel" and improvised the melody over it.

    "There's a lot of improvisation," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today program.

    While they are two very different songs, Winstone did notice some similarities between "IDGAF" and "The Tunnel."

    "It's strange, because he [Drake] is protesting and he doesn't give a monkey's - for want of a better word," she said. "And I thought, well actually that's how we felt when we recorded our music, because it was hardly what people were waiting for at the time, and I don't think they were really ready for it."
  • Philadelphia producer BNYX created the beat for the bass-heavy track. A member of the producer collective Working on Dying, BNYX produced six tracks on Yeat's 2022 album Lyfë (including the hit single "Talk") and eight tracks on his 2023 album Afterlyfe.
  • Yeat cooked up "IDGAF" in late 2021 and dropped snippets of the track periodically over the next 18 months, building up serious buzz. With the hype from BNYX and Yeat, fans geared up for it to be a part of the West Coast rapper's fifth studio album, LyfëStyle, but then Drake got his hands on it. He dropped a verse and laid it down with his engineer, Noel Cadastre, for his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.

Evolution Of The Prince Symbol

Evolution Of The Prince SymbolSong Writing

The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.