Every artist approaches their work a little differently. Some rappers are deeply prolific with their releases. Whether that’s a series of EPs and mixtapes alongside albums like Future and Young Thug in their primes or Lil B and Rx Papi, where there was almost a song a day. However, other musicians can be deeply meticulous with their work like D’Angelo or Frank Ocean. Their albums are less a collection of songs and more intentional in their sequencing.
Isaiah Rashad always felt closer to the latter. In an interview with GQ in 2021, he felt like someone who could create a project without himself in it. He just happened to be in the frame, like Spike Lee or Quentin Tarantino acting in their own movies. This approach was massive on The House is Burning, his first album in five years at the time. Truthfully, though, if he felt like someone could take his place and express his vision, he would.
“That’s why on the album, I put a lot of people whose music I like on specific songs that were more catered to them than to me,” Isaiah Rashad said. “I think that’s somewhat like being a director and treating myself, the rapper, as more of a character. Because at the end of the day, I’m more of a producer and director than anything else, I just happen to write the scripts too.”
Isaiah Rashad Likened Himself to More of a Director Than a Rapper Back in 2021
“The only actor who I can get to say these raps is myself right now,” Rashad continued. “Trust me, if I had somebody else to rap these, a dude with a better voice preferably, I would. I just make these soundscapes that are in my mind and they’re basically like soundtracks to certain times of day and certain things that are going on in my life, with the real intention that you should listen to this album at night while driving on a dark road, you should really feel that.”
In a sense, Isaiah Rashad compared The House Is Burning to Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Only a select few would really understand its deepest intention. If you aren’t about the little stuff, you’re only going to get so much of the record.
“Art is to be delivered and interpreted. I’m not supposed to sell you my art, you feel me? You really have to like the premises of those two movies to get into them, you’re not gonna just watch Hateful Eight and be like, ‘This sh*t bomb,’” Isaiah Rashad added.
The post Isaiah Rashad Explains Why He Felt Like ‘More of a Producer and Director’ Than a Rapper: ‘I Just Happen To Write the Scripts Too’ appeared first on VICE.
