#67 - Isaiah Rashad - The House is Burning REVIEW

Listen on: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube

Video animation by: Big Flowers

Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING

Skip intro (0:49).

The title of this album initially suggested to me that this would be a very urgent and emotionally visceral album. Instead, Isaiah Rashad is like that character in the burning house meme.

Isaiah is genuinely so calm and relaxed on this album, while being enveloped in significant turmoil that is going on in his personal life.

I'm really happy for Zay. It seems like he's genuinely in such a better place mentally...

However, I feel like my issues with THIB can be summed up by that meme. I feel like we hear "this is fine" from Isaiah without the necessary reasoning that explains why.

I think Rashad was attempting to illustrate the peace he has now achieved after these years of turmoil, through a catchy and wavy rapping style. 

Unfortunately, I don't think he gets this done because I feel like there's an entire chapter of Rashad's recent years that is more or less missing, or roughly sketched at the most on THIB.

He doesn't give me enough pieces of that trauma... in order for me to understand the context surrounding this tough road he's been on, and fully connect with the music.

To top it off, generally, I don't find he's lyrically specific enough to glean a lot of feelings from this album.

This is especially disappointing considering how tumultuous his life has been recently. I feel like there was a lot of stories, and personal anecdotes he could've gotten into, but we don't get much of it.

He certainly brings a level of emotion and intimacy in his vocals that I do like, but it's not nearly evocative enough to affect me to a significant degree.

RMPP Preferred Cut: "Headshots (4r Da Locals)" 

Stream The House is Burning here.