When I spoke to Isaiah Rashad in 2016 ahead of the release of his sophomore album, The Sun’s Tirade, he sounded repentant. In the lead-up to release day, the now-30-year-old Chattanooga, Tennessee rapper had bared his soul to journalist after journalist, myself included, admitting to his pitfalls and refusing to play victim. Instead, he laid his cards out on the table and fessed up. “I couldn’t really make an outright negative, celebrating-negativity song,” Rashad said, referring to the addiction issues and financial mistakes that had delayed the creation and release of The Sun’s Tirade. "I can’t talk about it without sounding like I f*** with it. And I couldn't figure out a way to talk about it until after I pushed a lot of that s*** behind me.”
It turns out, Isaiah Rashad needed a little more time to overcome those tribulations. In a May cover story for the FADER, Rashad revealed that his problems trailed after him for years. In 2019, he finally reached out for real help, spending time in rehab. “I’m swimming in the trauma, baby,” Rashad half-jokingly told writer Jeff Weiss in a moment of reflection.
