Who is Isaiah Rashad? Isaiah Rashad McClain is a rapper hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee and this is his debut album. Isaiah is signed one of the most well-known labels in the west coast, Top Dawg Entertainment who they have signed acts like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and SZA. The label does have a small roster but with the names signed and affiliated with TDE you are a pretty big deal if you have substance, you are interesting and/or a have a little bit of buzz around your name. Rashad was signed to TDE in 2013 with the co-sign from Dave Free and to celebrate his signing with his breakthrough single "Shot You Down". In the beginning of 2014 he dropped a 14 track EP/mixtape "Cilvia Demo" and received critical acclaim from critics to fans, but for me however at the time when this dropped two years ago, I had mixed feelings on it. I felt he had potential here but with the production, the choruses and some of the storytelling was average at best but going back to Cilvia Demo couple years later I appreciate it a bit more and quite enjoyed it, maybe it wasn't connecting with me at that time. Since then after the release of Cilvia Demo he has been a bit quiet and has been featured on a few tracks and dropped some a couple tracks like "Nelly" and "Smile" leading up to this project. I was curious how the album was gonna sound cause he is known for pretty laid back and a smooth vibe, which his style is pretty well-known for. I feel like he should take more risk, have more depth to his and go in a different direction and try new things. He did drop a single, one of them being 'Free Lunch" where it was another smooth vibe track but I highly enjoy it, it was pretty jazzy, has some nice strings and keys to it so my curiosity raised a bit for this album. So with that brief introduction let's dive right into this review.
Now to be perfectly honest about this album, This album starts off very strong but the 2nd half of the album brings this entire album down. They're 17 tracks on this entire project and it should've been broken down to at least 13 tracks overall. I will give Isaiah credit for rapping on different production but I did felt like he didn't execute or put any energy into the tracks. The track "a lot" who has production from Mike Will Made It, I like the beat here but with Isaiah quiet very laid back vocals and his delivery its sounds lazy and very uninspired. "AA" is another track where the production was nice as well but I didn't connect with the track and in my opinion, his vocals on the first verse and the hook didn't sound good with his voice cracking, I know he is known for that but to me, it didn't sound good. I would say though however, my favorite track on the 2nd half was "Brenda" where Isaiah rapped about his grandmother and his home state. I enjoyed this track cause i can relate to it quite a bit and I enjoyed the riffs and the sax from Terrence Martin, gives me those coffee shops spoken word nights vibes. "Don't Matter" I wished this track mixing was a bit louder, I do enjoy when the drums come in, sounds like a song Andre 3000 would've done back in early 2000's. It's an okay track just wished the track had more punch to it. "Dressed Like Rappers" is an okay track as well where Rashad speaks about the life of a rapper and the struggles and gives us a little more backstory but to me the track here once again should've more punch to it, I know it's a laid back vibe song but it's way too laid back.
The first half of the album is very good, "4r Da Squaw" is my favorite track here, he raps about life back home with friends and family and that they need him right now and miss him a lot. It's an enjoyable track, perfect for cookouts or late night drives with the crew. "Rope//rosegold" was another favorite highlight of mine and love the transition from one song to the next. The first half has Isiah mentioning his father like on Cilva Demo once again, I also the enjoy the bass and rosegold has this Tribe Called Quest vibe feel to it. It's very smooth and laid back, perfect for those late nights by yourself with your thoughts. "Wat's Wrong" is the first time Isiah and Kendrick Lamar are collaborating for the first time and this another favorite of mine. The theme is both rapping battle with their emotions and their intentions in life, Kendrick verse was awesome and enjoy the hook by Zacari is very soulful and rides the track very smooth, a perfect for the Saturdays morning. "Park" has this low-key trap smooth beat production and it's only a verse and a hook but it's very solid as well, honestly no complaints here. "Bday" is pretty straight forward here where Isiah raps about being 25 and loving life and like he drops little hints here about battling alcoholism and being upset about a girl name Sasha leaving and he is upset about at the end of the day he just gotta move on and smile about it. "Sillk Da Shocka" features Syd and Steve Lacy from the group The Internet, the theme is Isiah shares a poetic description about love and has a familiar to "West Savannah" from Cilvia Demo and I like the track cause Rashad is vulnerable here and I enjoy the theme about young couples caring about each other and also leaving his home state and leaving behind someone he really cared about and resorting back to drugs use in order to cope with his rise to fame in the music industry.
To wind down here "Tity and Dolla" is a decent track here and features fellow TDE artist Jay Rock and Hugh Augustine and the three mc's brag about success and Jay Rock obviously had the best verse and it's nice to hear from him and I'm glad he is recovering fine with the accident he had a while ago and curious how his album gonna sound. "Stuck In The Mud" at first I didn't like at first but the track grew on me quite a bit and love that meaning of the title of the track could have many different meanings here but the main focus about this track is Isiah rapping his drug addiction and struggles which I noticed is the entire theme of this album here, Also appreciate that the first part has the Outkast vibes with the rumbling bass mixed in with bass heavy lines here and SZA did a very good job the hook and I know fans are waiting to hear her new album that should be dropping pretty soon.
Final thoughts here I highly enjoy the first half of this album but I feel like the second half is just average at best and drags down. I think if you cut the fat off this album and reduce the album to 13 tracks this would be a highly favorite of mine. It's a very decent album and he has some highlights and Isiah has really improved quite a bit but the album felt too overstuffed and all over the place at times, Plus I feel like some songs track need to be mixed and have just a little more punch to them. I still have to give Cilvia Demo the slight edge here over this album but I would say maybe this album later on in the year it can maybe finally connected with me like with Cilvia Demo did with me. That's all for today, Happy Labor Day and Robert Garcia out.
Favorite Tracks: Free Lunch, 4r Da Squaw, Park, Rope//rosegold, Bday, Wat's Wrong, Stuck In The Mud, Slikk Da Shocka
Least Favorite Tracks: A lot
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