Isaiah Rashad is making his long-awaited return next month with his first album in five years.
The Tennessee native has announced his new album It’s Been Awful, which will be released on May 1 via Top Dawg Entertainment and Warner Records.
Along with a cinematic trailer for the project, which depicts Rashad limping across a field after a vicious attack, the TDE MC has launched pre-saves for the lead single “Same Sh!t,” set to drop soon.
It also appears that Zaywop is plotting an accompanying tour, with his new interactive website displaying an It’s Been Awful Tour poster. Fans can also hear a snippet of an unreleased instrumental, presumably from his upcoming album, when they visit the site.
Isaiah Rashad began teasing his new album earlier this week, posting a cryptic card on his Instagram Stories that read: “Everybody wanna see you crash out, fall off, and burn out all for their entertainment. I just wanna see you smile.”
The back of the card featured the phrase “it’s been awful,” which fans now know is the name of his next project.
Fellow TDE artists Doechii, ScHoolboy Q, SiR and others also lent their support to Rashad’s rollout by tweeting out his album title on their respective social media pages.
Zay previously discussed the direction of his third studio album in an interview with VICE last year, naming OutKast, Prince and Fousheé as inspirations.
“The biggest inspiration for me was Fousheé,” he said. “Prince, I’ve been having ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend’ on repeat for 2-3 months. Then, for this tail-end part of my project, this girl PLUTO from Atlanta. She’s been inspiring me and this other girl BunnaB.”
He added: “I’m touching more [OutKast’s] Stankonia and The Love Below more than anything else. I would say Top [Dawg] made compromises for the creativity on this one, so I appreciate it.”
The 34-year-old also described the album’s sound as a “sultry southern mix mixed with a deep sense of intimacy. Everything from twangy rock and psychedelia to tender intimacy to the kind of trunk-rattling you’d only hear down south,” according to the publication.
It’s Been Awful serves as the follow-up to Isaiah Rashad’s 2021 album The House is Burning, which itself came after a half-decade hiatus from music following his fan-favorite effort The Sun’s Tirade.
