Isaiah Rashad Doesn’t Have All the Answers — and That’s the Point

Isaiah Rashad has a lot on his mind. I’m finally speaking with the Chattanooga rapper after months of planning our conversation, and he’s mentally preparing for two-a-day rehearsals ahead of his North American tour Lil Sunny’s Awful Road Trip (get tickets here). When we connect via Zoom in early August, Rashad is in full-on reflection mode. “I’ve been learning to respect my previous selves more,” he says. “When I go and review some of the stuff I would say about myself, I’m like, ‘Damn, I used to really trash the past every time I got an opportunity to.’ I guess I have a better relationship with it now. I appreciate the previous layers of myself that I showed and everything. I’m more so motivated by the past more than anything.” Find Isaiah Rashad Tickets Here Rashad’s history is multi-layered. His debut collection of songs, 2014’s Cilvia Demo, was an urgent introduction to a youthful but grizzled Southern MC who was likely to combust if he didn’t get his bars off. By comparison, his latest album, It’s Been Awful, is still revelatory, but understated and measured in delivery. Songs like “Scared 2 Look Down,” one of our Best Songs of 2026 so far, feature a defenseless Isaiah Rashad ...