Coming off of his debut project, Cilvia Demo, The Sun’s Tirade by Tennessee rapper Isaiah Rashad is an excellent album, released in September of 2016. However that isn’t to say this album doesn’t have problems.
The album starts out slow with tracks like “4r da Squaw” and “Rope // rosegold.” “Rope” started the main message about Rashad’s addictions that nearly cost him losing his place in the Top Dawg Entertainment roster. That type of “stream of consciousness” allows him to talk about his depression and his ability to escape through his music. It’s a motif that’s repeatedly mentioned throughout the album through the line, “This is a padded room.”
We’re then pulled into “Wat’s Wrong” a more upbeat song where Rashad really dives into the impacts his addiction had on his career and life. Kendrick Lamar’s verse on this track sounds like he’s explaining to Rashad how he got out of his depression, having gone through similar low points in his life as well. It’s a mellow song, and the production is absolutely phenomenal. Not only that, but the flows both of them put out are amazingly smooth.
After the highly energetic “Park,” the album slows down for tracks like “Silkk da Shocka.” The track details Rashad’s personal life, mainly focusing on his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and son before and after his fame. The moments where he mumbles are usually weaker points on the album, with only a couple of exceptions. It’s one of my gripes with the next song, “Stuck in the Mud” which completely wastes a SZA feature along with being annoying and repetitive and runs for too long.
However “A lot” is one of the exceptions. It covers all the decadence of the rapper lifestyle by completely exaggerating it to the point where you couldn’t tell if it were a critique of that topic or not. But the production of the song is really bouncy and all around fun.
The trend continues until “by george” which is by far, one of the worst outros I’ve ever heard. If the track was cut, “Find a Topic” would have felt like a more natural exit to the album. While it is a well-rounded track, I feel like it would have benefited more from being the track that succeeds “Brenda” (which is great in its own right).
While this LP does have great moments, it isn’t flawless. But the project doesn’t disappoint completely, songs like “Wat’s Wrong” and “AA” are places Rashad shines in the album, but whenever he gets to a point like “by george” he fails spectacularly. The only thing we could do in the meantime is wait for a new album, which I am nothing but excited for. The Sun’s Tirade is at most a 7/10.
The album starts out slow with tracks like “4r da Squaw” and “Rope // rosegold.” “Rope” started the main message about Rashad’s addictions that nearly cost him losing his place in the Top Dawg Entertainment roster. That type of “stream of consciousness” allows him to talk about his depression and his ability to escape through his music. It’s a motif that’s repeatedly mentioned throughout the album through the line, “This is a padded room.”
We’re then pulled into “Wat’s Wrong” a more upbeat song where Rashad really dives into the impacts his addiction had on his career and life. Kendrick Lamar’s verse on this track sounds like he’s explaining to Rashad how he got out of his depression, having gone through similar low points in his life as well. It’s a mellow song, and the production is absolutely phenomenal. Not only that, but the flows both of them put out are amazingly smooth.
After the highly energetic “Park,” the album slows down for tracks like “Silkk da Shocka.” The track details Rashad’s personal life, mainly focusing on his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and son before and after his fame. The moments where he mumbles are usually weaker points on the album, with only a couple of exceptions. It’s one of my gripes with the next song, “Stuck in the Mud” which completely wastes a SZA feature along with being annoying and repetitive and runs for too long.
However “A lot” is one of the exceptions. It covers all the decadence of the rapper lifestyle by completely exaggerating it to the point where you couldn’t tell if it were a critique of that topic or not. But the production of the song is really bouncy and all around fun.
The trend continues until “by george” which is by far, one of the worst outros I’ve ever heard. If the track was cut, “Find a Topic” would have felt like a more natural exit to the album. While it is a well-rounded track, I feel like it would have benefited more from being the track that succeeds “Brenda” (which is great in its own right).
While this LP does have great moments, it isn’t flawless. But the project doesn’t disappoint completely, songs like “Wat’s Wrong” and “AA” are places Rashad shines in the album, but whenever he gets to a point like “by george” he fails spectacularly. The only thing we could do in the meantime is wait for a new album, which I am nothing but excited for. The Sun’s Tirade is at most a 7/10.