Change the Record: Isaiah Rashad — “It’s Been Awful”

After a relatively dry April, May has decided to bless us once again with a variety of new releases, some with actual profiles. With new albums from American Football, Kacey Musgraves, The Black Keys, and Tori Amos, it feels like a festival of all the musicians my dad has only listened to via Spotify playlists. Before those releases, though, an album that stood out to me is the new release from Isaiah Rashad, one of the most acclaimed rappers in hip-hop circles, and an artist I most want to like, but don’t.

Isaiah Rashad is a rapper from Tennessee who signed with the legendary hip-hop label Top Dawg Entertainment in 2013 and has since been one of the label’s standout artists. Within the label, however, Rashad has always been in an awkward spot, not a big enough name to stand alongside their biggest artists, like ScHoolboy Q, SZA, or the now-independent Kendrick Lamar. Still, he has a notable enough voice that he can’t just be thrown in with the label’s other smaller artists. He gained attention with records such as the very acclaimed mixtape “Cilvia Demo” and his debut “The Sun’s Tirade,” both of which established him as an artist with a distinct sound. He was conscious and wordy, but with a more laid-back sound that appeals to listeners who appreciate lyrical content but also want music to relax to. 

He would take a five-year pause between his debut album and his sophomore release, “The House Is Burning,” a record I approached with excitement but left feeling underwhelmed. For me, the issue with Rashad has always been his sound. His writing is excellent; he has a voice and lyrical ability that few artists can match, but it never felt matched by especially compelling music. However, things were different moving into this new record, as Rashad would truly experience some awful things. Videos of him were leaked online, and he was outed in one of the most invasive ways possible, and forced to address the situation publicly without any preparation. It’s a situation I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and he handled it with more grace than I could ever imagine, but it clearly weighed on him as he headed into this new album.

“It’s Been Awful” feels like the most personal portrait of Rashad to date, as he opens himself up more and more as a person, letting us in on his state of mind over the past few years. Tracks like “GTKY” and “Do I Look High?” provide well-written insights into Rashad as a person and his mindset. The straightforward ideas of reconnecting with someone after hurting them, and struggling with sobriety, carry significant emotional weight as Rashad relays them in a tone that feels casual yet deeply painful. It gives the feeling of having these things vented to you by a friend, adding a special layer to the writing throughout the album.

What struck me, however, was a simple question. Was all of this good writing and impressive emotional depth enough to make up for the music, which is, to be blunt, boring as hell? For some, that answer might be yes, and I can certainly see the appeal of his music; it has a distinct vibe, perfect for an early-morning or late-evening walk in the park while you think about life. But for me, all this would do if I listened to it at night is put me at risk of falling asleep in the grass. Rashad has a very tired-sounding delivery, and it is very much a feature of his music, not a flaw; it adds to the world-weary feeling his records give, but it also makes his music frustratingly dull at times.

“It’s Been Awful,” while still primarily a hip-hop record, is also heavily influenced by bedroom pop and the lo-fi guitar music on Bandcamp and SoundCloud. While the guitars here are very pretty, I don’t think combining the sleepiest type of hip-hop and the sleepiest type of pop was a winning combination. It is not just that his music is sleep-inducing; that’s the issue, mind you, it’s that his sound is simply very boring. While certain tracks like “M.O.M” and “Act Normal” have a bounce to them and a genuinely captivating sound, much of the album is like “10 States Away” and “Cameras,” where the sound is so flat you could push it under a door. Then some tracks try to switch things up but ultimately don’t work for me like “Same Sh!t” which tries for a meatier sound, with harder-thumping drums but is ultimately too tepid to stand out, or “Nuthin 2 Hide” which leans full into rock, but has so little impact in any respect that it feels half-hearted.

I feel so bad being so harsh toward this album because it has heart, ambition, and real passion behind its writing, but at the end of the day, I do consider it a flaw if listening to an album feels tiring. I guess, if it’s any consolation, I usually have trouble sleeping, so I can at least thank Isaiah Rashad for giving me a decent sleep aid.