A bloodied Isaiah Rashad stumbles across an open field and collapses. Then the screen reads “It’s Been Awful 5/1/26.” That’s the whole teaser, shared Tuesday (April 7), and it’s the first formal word on the TDE rapper’s first album in five years, Pitchfork reports.
His last LP, The House Is Burning, came out in 2021 and had guests including SZA, Lil Uzi Vert, Duke Deuce, Smino, 6lack and Doechii, per HotNewHipHop and Complex. No tracklist or features have been announced for the follow-up, Complex noted. Fans filled the replies to his post on X: “Finally. This mf always wanna take 5 years to drop,” one wrote, and another asked whether he was going for “a FOURTH consecutive CLASSIC.”
What it might sound like
Rashad gave the clearest hint last August, in an interview with Vice. “The biggest inspiration for me was Fousheé… Prince, I’ve been having ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend’ on repeat for 2-3 months,” he said, naming Atlanta’s Pluto and BunnaB as recent inspirations too. He added, “I’m touching more [Outkast’s] Stankonia and The Love Below more than anything else.”
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He also thanked “Top,” his label’s namesake boss: “I would say Top made compromises for the creativity on this one, so I appreciate it.” He told Vice he wanted to play the next tour with a live band, as he did in Europe on the last one, and recalled that Tony Royster Jr., one of Jay-Z’s drummers, was the first drummer he ever performed with. More recently, he described It’s Been Awful as his “best body of work” in a message to fans on Instagram, HotNewHipHop said.
Why it matters
Rashad has been one of TDE’s most distinctive voices since Cilvia Demo (2014), which sits at No. 25 on Pitchfork’s list of the best rap mixtapes of the millennium. The album will be followed by the second leg of his Cilvia Demo 10th-anniversary shows, which he started in 2024.
When the album arrived May 1, our review found it hazy, patient and unguarded, with addiction, family and sexuality at the center.
IT’S BEEN AWFULIsaiah RashadListen on Apple Music
- Album
- *It’s Been Awful*, Isaiah Rashad’s third
- Out
- May 1
- Last album
- *The House Is Burning* (2021)
- Next
- Second leg of the *Cilvia Demo* 10th anniversary shows
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
