Artist of the Week: Isaiah Rashad - WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radio

Photo Credit: Brandon Artis

What’s going on butcher crew? I know my past few blog posts have not been about metal artists, but I wanted to highlight other artists that I like that are outside the realm of metal. We are throwing some flavor into the Butcher Shop!!!

I first started listening to Isaiah Rashad second semester of my sophomore year of college. I was hanging out with one of my friends and she was playing Wat’s Wrong and it caught my eye. I am a fan of songs that have a jazzy rap vibe with lo-fi beats. I don’t know if I describe that correctly but if you listen to that song you will understand what I mean, I promise.

I started listening to Rashad on my own and I loved his style. When I begin to really like an artist, I will listen to their entire discography. His overall style in my opinion is very calming and soothing. Rashad is very raw and blunt with his lyrics, it’s like reading someone’s diary and they are venting their deepest darkest secrets. He is very open about what he has dealt with and what he is currently dealing with. I like artist that are open within their music because they are being real. I can’t relate to mainstream rap that is played today, but artist like Rashad rap about issues that majority of people can relate to in one way or another.

I love and appreciate music that is raw and is open. This reminds me of bands like KoRn and Alice in Chains (two of my favorites). When listening to KoRn’s debut album, KoRn, Jonathan Davis is very open in his lyrics and you can feel the emotion of the song because of it. Likewise, Alice in Chains is the same. When listening to Layne Staley’s (RIP) voice, you can hear the pain behind it. I can hear this same style of raw emotions in Rashad’s music.

Rashad is a 29-year-old rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer from Chattanooga Tennessee. He began to seriously start rapping when he was in the tenth grade and him and his friends would record on their laptops. He then would record in local studios and his first breakout would be touring with rappers Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA on the 2012 Smoker’s Club Tour.

In 2013, Rashad signed to Top Dawg Entertainment record label and in 2014 he released Cilvia Demo and then in 2016 he released The Sun’s Tirade (my favorite album).

Rashad’s music is characterized by its woozy, nostalgic tone and raw lyrics about depression, drug addiction, and family. There is a sense of vulnerability when listening to his songs. Although with this type of intensity, the beats are very smooth and give a good bounce and groove to the songs. Rashad also has some hype songs like my two personal favorites: Tity and Dolla and A Lot. Rashad is very open about his battle with depression and struggles with substance abuse. He wears his influences and emotions on his sleeve and shares it through the music he makes. Not only does his music help his listeners, but I believe it also helps himself.

Rashad’s last full-length, The Sun’s Tirade, was released in 2016. On April 22, 2020 he released the single Why Worry. I was very excited for the release because it has been almost 4 years since he has released anything. Some of Rashad’s fans have been desperately longing for new music and some of his fans have harassed him for a new album. I don’t understand this type of reaction because Rashad seems like the type of artist that wants his music to be true to him and not rushed. He will release music when he is ready. I would rather wait for Rashad to release an album or single when he is ready rather than the music being rushed and not being what Rashad wants.

So, Isaiah, you are doing great. You’re doing great sweetie, we will wait. Thank you for the single though.

Discography:

Cilvia Demo (2014)
Nelly (single) (2015)
Smile (single) (2016)
The Sun’s Tirade (album) (2016)
Why Worry (single) (2020)