Isaiah Rashad

Isaiah Rashad McClain Better Known As Isaiah Rashad Is An American Hip Hop Recording Artist From Chattanooga Tennessee. In March 2013 Rashad Signed To Carson California-Based Independent Record Label Top Dawg Entertainment. On January 28 2014 He Released Cilvia Demo His Debut Extended Play EP Via Digital Distribution. Early Life Isaiah Rashad Was Born Isaiah Rashad McClain In Chattanooga Tennessee. Isaiah Rashad Was Raised Primarily By His Mother Who Is A Hairdresser. His Father Would Let Rashad Stay Up Late With Him While They Listened To Too $hort And Scarface When He Was Young. Then One Day When Rashad Was Three His Father Left. Rashad Briefly Had Ambitions Of Becoming A Preacher Until His Stepbrother Lent Him A Copy Of OutKast's ATLiens In Junior High And His Mindset Shifted. Shortly After Rashad Started Spending Most Of His Time Smoking Weed And Rapping. Musical Career 2010-2012 Beginnings And Building His Buzz Isaiah Rashad First Begun Rapping Seriously In Tenth Grade While Him And His Friends Would Record On Laptops. After High School He Went To Tennessee State University. Then His Friend Who Went To School For Sound Recording Introduced Rashad To A Guy With A Studio. As It Turned Out That Guy Happened To Be His Cousin And He Let Rashad Record There For Free. Once His Cousin Moved On To A Different Job Rashad Bounced Around A Couple Of Local Studios. He Stopped Going To School And Lived Wherever He Could Record. He Begun Getting Industry Connects Forging Relationships With Max Pete From DJBooth.Net And Jeff Weiss Who Writes For Rolling Stone. From That His Music Begun Getting Passed Around To Various A&R's. From July 13 To August 23 2012 Isaiah Rashad Toured With Juicy J Joey Badass And Smoke DZA Among Others On The 2012 Smoker's Club Tour. In December 2012 Rashad Begun Getting Attention From Various Record Labels Most Of Which He Showed No Interest In. 2013 Signing To Top Dawg Entertainment In March 2013 Rashad Met Production Team Digi Phonics' Dave Free Who Then Introduced Him To Top Dawg CEO Of Carson California-Based Independent Record Label Top Dawg Entertainment TDE . On June 3 2013 It Was Reported That Rashad Was The Recently Buzzed About Signing To Top Dawg Entertainment Home To Rappers Such As Kendrick Lamar Schoolboy Q Ab-Soul And Jay Rock. However The Label Did Not Release An Official Statement. Over The Following Months The Label And Rashad Remained Coy About The Signing Not Confirming Anything. Then On September 20 2013 Top Dawg Entertainment Made The Signing Official With Top Dawg Announcing It Over Twitter. However He Revealed He Had Been Signed To The Label Since March. Following The Signing Rashad Moved To Los Angeles California And Begun Living And Recording At The TDE Red Room Studio. To Celebrate The Signing Announcement A Music Video For A New Song Titled "Shot You Down" Was Released. It Was His First New Song Released In Over A Year. The Video Had Been Recently Shot In His Hometown Of Chattanooga Tennessee. On October 1 2013 A Video Was Released Of Rashad Signing His Contract With TDE. 2013-Present Cilvia Demo On October 15 2013 Isaiah Rashad Made His National Television Debut When He Participated In The TDE Cypher During The 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards Alongside His Label-Mates Kendrick Lamar Ab-Soul Schoolboy Q And Jay Rock. XXL Praised The Verse As Strong Even Due To The High Pressure Rashad Had To Impress The Masses. Entertainment Weekly Also Praised His Verse During The Cypher. On October 18 2013 The Remix To "Shot You Down" Featuring Schoolboy Q And Jay Rock Was Released Via SoundCloud. On November 7 2013 Rashad Told Revolt That He Would Be Releasing His Very First Official Project Cilvia During December 2013. Closing Out 2013 HipHopDX Named Rashad A Runner-Up For Their Award For "Rising Star Of The Year". In Early January 2014 Complex Named Him One Of The New Rappers Most Likely To "blow Up" During 2014. In Mid-January 2014 Rashad Revealed That The Mixtape Cilvia Would Now Be A Retail Extended Play EP And Would Not Contain Many Featured Artists. On January 17 CEO Top Dawg Revealed The Cover Artwork For The EP And That Cilvia Demo Would Be Released Digitally On January 28 2014. It Revealed Features From TDE's SZA And Jay Rock And Schoolboy Q On The Remix Of "Shot You Down". The Day Before The EP's Release Rashad Released The Music Video For The Cilvia Demo Song "Soliloquy". Speaking Of The Development Of Cilvia Demo Rashad Said "At First It Was Going To Be Like Eight Tracks For A One-And-A-Half-Minutes Just Verses. Then It Was Going To Be Some Alternative Black-Power Shit. Then It Was Going To Be Some Eclectic-Alien Shit. Then It Was Going To Be Some Southern-Banging Shit. Now It’s Kind Of All Of It Except For The Banging Shit. It Ain’t Like With The Intention Of Turning Up To It That’s Not My Shit. I Just Want You To Vibe Out To It. Have A Good Time And Put You In A Certain Mood. It’s Real Peaceful Real Calmful." As Promised Cilvia Demo Was Released On January 28 2014 Via Digital Download Retailers And Was Made Available In CD Format Exclusively From From Top Dawg Entertainment's Website. Rob Markman Of MTV Gave The EP A Positive Review Saying "By The Time The 14-Track Project Winds Down Isaiah Rashad Slowly Doles Out His Own Coming-Of-Age Story Using Introspective Raps Melodies And At Times Good Old Southern Bounce." The EP Debuted At Number 40 On The US Billboard 200 Chart And Sold 8 500 Copies In The United States During Its First Week Of Release. March 1 To June 1 2014 Isaiah Rashad Will Tour With Schoolboy Q For The Entirety Of His International Tour Supporting His Third Studio Album Oxymoron. Personal Life Isaiah Rashad Has A Son With His Long-Time Girlfriend. Their Son Was Born In 2013. Musical Style & Influences Growing Up And To This Day Rashad Says He Listens Or Listened To Jay-Z Snoop Dogg OutKast No Limit Records Cash Money Records Erykah Badu The Fugees KRS-One Dead Prez Three 6 Mafia 8Ball & MJG UGK R. Kelly Bootsy Collins George Clinton James Brown The Temptations Smokey Robinson Gorillaz And Danger Mouse. However He Credits Scarface And Jay-Z For Being The Biggest Influences To His Music. Jason Moore Of Complex Discussed Him Saying "Rashad Spits Thoughtfully Intelligently And With Precision Morphing His Delivery To Fit Different Production Styles And Making Each Line Count." Discography EP's -Cilvia Demo 2014 read less