Since the release of Isaiah Rashad’s last album The Sun’s Tirade, Tennessee Hip Hop has undergone a meteoric rise thanks to the success of many Memphis rappers. The Top Dawg Entertainment signee may be from Chattanooga, but he’s inspired by other cities in his state and has been paying attention to some of the current trailblazing artists taking over the charts.
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In a new interview with Billboard, Isaiah Rashad saluted a number of Memphis natives and voiced his hopes to connect with them at some point.
“Memphis got the whole shit on lock,” he said. “I saw [Moneybagg Yo] got the No. 1 album in the country. You got [Young Dolph], Bagg, [Key Glock] — Glock my favorite. How [Yo Gotti] doing shit signing n-ggas and he got 42 Dugg on top of all that shit. Only thing that sucks about that shit is I don’t even know them n-ggas. I just hope at one point in time I get to meet them n-ggas and chop it up and break bread because that’s some inspirational shit.”
He added, “I listen to everybody. I been banging that Slime Language 2. I listened to Slime Language 2, to Norma Tanega ‘Treat Me Right’ today. I listen to folk music and everything so I’m always tapped in. The last five years, all I’ve been trying to do is take the criticism from my peers within the camp because all they want to do is see me do good. I’m trying to take the same artistic approach I could take, and take it big enough for someone who was into the same shit I was into growing up.”
Moneybagg Yo’s new album A Gangsta’s Pain is currently No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 42 Dugg set to release his Free Dem Boyz project under Gotti’s CMG label on Friday (May 21) featuring Roddy Ricch, Future, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Rowdy Rebel and others. Earlier this year, Young Dolph and Key Glock teamed up for their collaborative album Dum & Dummer 2, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.
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Isaiah Rashad is admittedly a fan, but he’s also actively collaborating with the Memphis scene. The TDE rapper recruited Duke Deuce for his new single “Lay Wit Ya” on May 7, with the buzzing Quality Control signing also appearing in the music video. In September 2020, Rashad revealed he wouldn’t drop his upcoming album without a Young Dolph feature; although Dolph won’t appear on the project, he’s aiming to connect with him on the deluxe version.
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Watch the “Lay Wit Ya” video below and look for his new album The House Is Burning to arrive in June.
