“I wanted to make something for when I was having a shitty day—something to play to make me feel good.” –Isaiah Rashad, Pigeons & Planes
TDE has a way of making us fiend for shit–a few examples being SZA, AB-Soul, and Isaiah Rashad. The artists themselves, with the exception of Isaiah, have openly voiced frustration with the label for seemingly holding them back from dropping what they described as finished products–leaving some fans to wonder if they`d be benched, not unlike some artists in Wu-Tang who had to simply wait for their turns. For young Isaiah, that wasn`t necessarily the case; his lapse in musical output was simply him not focusing on the task at hand. In fact, during his press run for the new album, he openly admitted he was addicted to pills and alcohol, and battled with depression, anxiety, and isolation during his apparent “downtime.” Also, without elaborating, he noted that he was almost dropped three times during the process of putting the project together–likely stemming from his issues with the vices above.
The rapper, who signed to Kendrick Lamar`s home base released his Civilia project to an internet public that couldn`t get enough. Amidst touring with Schoolboy Q for the entirely of his debut album promo run and being honored as part of the 2014 XXL Freshman Class, he kept fans on the hook for an official debut that seemed all but unlikely. That was, until this past August.
True to their word, the label gave us appetizers, “Free Lunch,” on top of two earlier released non-album singles, “Nelly” and “Smile.” This was followed by an official release of The Sun’s Tirade, on September 6th. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard US/R&B and was embraced by critics. Our own Ernst Constant called the album “the right soundtrack for the end of summer, and the beginning of fall, as the tracks slide from sizzling hot energy to a cooled down tempo.”
Isaiah’s time is now. This New Year, he’s hitting the road for a 22+ date tour across the country in 2017; it kicks off in Lawrence, Kansas on January 18th, and touches down in several big cities including Chicago, New York, Boston, Detroit, DC, Philly, Miami and Nashville. Tickets for The Lil’ Sunny Tour, which also features Jay IDK and fellow TDE signee Lance Skiiiwalker, whose Introverted Intuition album dropped this past October, are currently available on Good Deed Seats; why should you use Good Deed Seats? Well, $5 from every ticket sale is donated to a partner charity. So, you get to catch an incredible show while making a difference.
Don’t miss the tour that XXL Magazine named as one of their must-see winter tours!
