What Y’all Don’t Know About the YDK Collective

The YDK (Y’all Don’t Know) Collective is new to the Urbana-Champaign music scene, and after sitting down with three of its members I learned that they’re nothing short of driven, ambitious, and excited for the future. Founded in the past year by three members—including Afro Shinobi, who invited me to interview them, and fellow members Danak and Radioactive. —the YDK Collective is a group of artists from different crafts joining together to promote and support each other as they grow and improve as creators. “We’re there as a resource for each other and we always know that everyone else is a resource for us, and that’s really just what the collective is,” Afro Shinobi said.YDK started in UIUC’s Allen Hall during Afro Shinobi’s freshman year. He told me, “[...] you know there’d be a lot of artsy kids that be chillin’ over there again [...] and you know, I’d just be freestyling with my friend Kanad [Danak] who made some beats and stuff, and we’d just be fuckin’ around but then I started going to some Urbana house shows ,and I’m seeing people going up and thinking ‘Wow, there’s a lot of great music around here!’” Shortly after becoming friends with local producer yourbeautifulruin, Afro Shinobi decided he wanted to take music more seriously and, as a result, came up with the idea for YDK.He wanted to start a collective with friends similarly interested in art and music who would be able to work together without feeling tethered by the restraints of being in a band. “It’s not like a group where you’re bound to it, it’s more like a—we’re always gonna be in a symbiotic relationship where we can help each other out, and we’re always there for each other that type of thing.”The most important thing about YDK is that it’s a collective for people into all kinds of artistic endeavors. “It’s not just about music,” Afro Shinobi emphasized, “we have visual artists, we have photographers, we have filmmakers. We try to put every kind of art in YDK just so we can always help each other out.”When I asked the three about the group’s goals, Radioactive, the self-described visionary of YDK, answered, “I feel like right now it’s just to be comfortable where we’re at because there’s a lot going on.” He added that he has a lot of ideas including making merch and “uniforms” for the group, but that they’re not quite ready to make that investment. “Mark my words...” he started, “the next time that there is a YDK performance, there’s gonna be some painting involved.”Everyone present was surprised by the announcement and Afro Shinobi laughed, “This is my first time hearing this, but that sounds dope as fuck, okay!”“I had to say it because it’s going on paper so people are going to read it, so now it has to happen,” Radioactive said.YDK is looking to perform more often. They’ve done shows in the past, and though every artist in the collective has their own sound and vibe, it didn’t seem to be an issue transitioning from performer to performer. Danak mentioned that he thought it would be problem before their first performance, “because I was on some singing shit for the beginning and I was on some screaming shit at the end, but like, in between, you know, it’s still—just because it was vastly different track-to-track, the crowd was still about it! There’s something about being in a basement. Besides, like, you know, I don’t think people—people’s attention spans don’t mind the switch in song from here and there. They’re here for a performance of talent, and they’re here for enjoyment, and I think we give them that.”Radioactive added that, “It’s sorta like a festival, you know? We’re like a music festival every time, just within our set.”Afro Shinobi agreed and said, “We have some ‘chill’ vibes, we have some ‘you wanna get lit and mosh’ vibes, we have some ‘you know you’re sad and you wanna sing about some girl or boy’ whatever you want—you wanna cry—you know we have some ‘sad boy’ vibes. The OG name of the group was—” All three in unison cheered, “Sad Boys!” before Afro Shinobi laughed and quickly disclaimed, “Not actually. Kanad wanted it to be Sad Boys,” and Radioactive joked, “I probably would have denied the offer to join.”Danak jumped back in and noted, “On the real, though, like, we’re looking for more gigs, too. On the regular. We’re a group of 14 people—there’s no amount of gigs that’s not enough!”Other plans for YDK include making a site or page where fans can read about each member, as well as organizing their already existing Soundcloud page (linked below). As for the far off future of YDK, the members aren’t going to be a rotating group of people coming and going as they enter or graduate from UIUC. Afro Shinobi explained, “I don’t think it should be tied to the fact that we’re between 19 and 21, you feel? So I’d love to add more people as we see them, but I’d also like us to blossom as a collective which could only happen if we stayed together.”But beyond YDK itself, each member has their own goals outside of the group. “Whenever there’s a YDK show, I’m there,” Danak mentioned, “but I wanna do my own shows, get my own recognition, get my own fanbase, and I think every member of YDK strives for that same thing. I want the YDK shows to be a once-in-a-so-often-blue-moon event compared to my individual shows where I perform my individual tracks and get my individual name out there.” The other members echoed those ambitions too.The YDK Collective has a long way to go to get where they want to be, but they’re ready for the work and optimistic about where the future will take them. As for closing thoughts, Radioactive had this to say, “Just remember when you think you have it all figured out? Y’all Don’t Know.”Check out YDK and it’s members here:The YDK Collective: https://soundcloud.com/ydkydkydk?fbclid=IwAR25lugycTlFeceL7StB2xIVb7HOT6PcYitG7PsRes_CprkiFaj_pTGdjLIDanak: https://soundcloud.com/danakontheblock?fbclid=IwAR2ETr2noN1Al92w25Kr8IpAyH6Fry4cdsZdg0IYgQrVUbDZY7GMQ2lhDXwAfroshinobi: https://soundcloud.com/user-939091842?fbclid=IwAR2pKm6oQ-wV1_DPPQKGLQ4jKW8zS6kF2UYqofQPRuedBUxXueDEIsYIJeMRadioactive: https://soundcloud.com/r-dio-ctiv?fbclid=IwAR29SRSn-iUFDXpNnJn46JUhRV9QRQNHLNcGO_tOYJfynYBGZsp8BYTxHFY