<\/p>\n \u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n Isaiah Rashad\u2019s new top-20 album is \u201cas concise a statement about men in rap struggling with their sexuality as has ever been made,\u201d said Mosi Reeves<\/strong> in Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/em>. Rashad, a longtime labelmate of SZA and Kendrick Lamar<\/a>, was forced to grapple publicly with his bisexuality in 2022 when he appeared in sex tapes that were leaked not long after his previous album reached Billboard\u2019s top 10. On this record, the Tennessee-raised songwriter and producer is as bracingly honest about his sexual fluidity as he is about his reliance on booze<\/a>, pills, and powders. But he\u2019s also \u201csubtly pushing the art forward\u201d as he puts his own stamp on \u201cthe muddy, melancholy Southern blues of mid-\u201990s rap.\u201d While some listeners may find the weight of the 35-year-old\u2019s confessions too heavy, said Luke Morgan Britton<\/strong> in NME<\/strong><\/em>, \u201cit\u2019s Rashad\u2019s stark specificity that makes the lyrics cut through.\u201d And when the music lands, as it \u201coften does,\u201d it \u201csounds like Southern rap filtered through a roof-down, summer-drive R&B haze.\u201d That blend hasn\u2019t made its creator a superstar yet. Starting now, \u201cnobody should be sleeping on Isaiah Rashad any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\u2018It\u2019s Been Awful\u2019 by Isaiah Rashad<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u2018Train on the Island\u2019 by Aldous Harding<\/span><\/h3>\n