Isaiah Rashad’s upcoming album has quietly turned into one of the most anticipated releases in hip-hop.

Isaiah Rashad has officially announced his next album, IT’S BEEN AWFUL, arriving May 1st.

The rollout already feels like a short film from a parallel universe. A teaser from a few days ago showed him bruised and dazed, wandering through a surreal garden populated by cows, as if reality itself is misfiring. The audio underneath is equally disorienting—dreamlike textures mixed with a cryptic radio voice that sounds like it’s speaking from somewhere between memory and sleep.

The album also comes with a 16-track lineup that reads like emotional snapshots from a fractured world: “The New Sublime,” “M.O.M,” “Same Sh!t,” and “Boy In Red” featuring SZA set the tone immediately. Elsewhere, tracks like “Scared 2 Look Down,” “Do I Look High?” featuring Julian Sintonia, and “Cameras” featuring Dominic Fike hint at vulnerability wrapped in collaboration.

Other titles like “Ain’t Givin’ Up,” “GTKY,” “Happy Hour,” “Supaficial,” “Act Normal,” and “10 States Away” suggest a push-pull between escape and endurance. Even “719 Freestyle” feels like a return to raw instinct rather than polished narrative.

The album cover seals the mood: Rashad sits on a red carpet in a sparse room, head in his hands on one image, and flexing in another—like two timelines of the same person colliding.

At this point, the question isn’t whether Isaiah Rashad is back. It’s what version of him made it through the fog.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.