May 28, 2021 | 3:51pm ET
After teasing something up his sleeve on Wednesday, Isaiah Rashad has finally brought fan theories to an end by linking up with producer extraordinaire Kenny Beats for the latest installment of The Cave freestyle series. Check out the track below.
Per tradition, Kenny made a beat from scratch at the artist’s request. “Let’s do some indie mixed with some hip-hop mixed with a whole bunch of bass,” said Rashad. “I’ma see if I can make a flip.”
Despite Kenny’s initial complaints, he cooked up a laidback beat to the rapper’s liking which he then gave a dirtier feel with a Southern hip-hop sample. Rashad entered the booth with some introspective rhymes reflecting upon his past drug addiction. “Lost control off the coke, back to broke/ Lookin’ like damaged shit,” he remembered.
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Earlier this month, Rashad hailed Kenny Beats as his “rap coach” for the way he was able to inspire fresh ideas in him. By the sound of it, Beats feels similarly about the rapper. “There was always something in the way that he veiled his metaphors and the way he brought you into this non-TDE story that had TDE depth,” said Beats. “He’s very intelligent and feels things in a really empathetic way, yet it’s car-ready and so quintessentially Southern. His music feels familiar and nostalgic, yet I can’t point to anything I know that sounds like it.”
Rashad’s upcoming album, The House Is Burning, is due out next month. With the minimal banger “Lay Wit Ya” and his 2020 comeback single “Why Worry”, it sure looks like Rashad is lined up for one of the most hyped rap returns of the year. Considering his last record, 2016’s The Sun’s Tirade, was not only a magnum opus but a career changer for Rashad, it’s no wonder fans are eager to decipher every detail possible about The House Is Burning.
What we do know about The House Is Burning is that it will be quite a dark hip-hop album. In an interview, Rashad said the central metaphor behind the LP is that god is not going to save you. “I mean, he can. Because I believe in God. But God alone is not going to save you,” explained the rapper. “The world’s on fire. The water is polluted, there’s so much CO2 pouring into the ozone. But when you take it to a micro level…when your house is on fire, are you going to go into that bitch to get the personal possessions, or are you just going to trust in yourself and in God that you’re going to be able to bounce back?” Guess fans will have to listen closely to find out.