Isaiah Rashad Returns After Five Years With IT'S BEEN AWFUL
isaiah rashad is back with IT'S BEEN AWFUL after five years, and the release lands as a tightly built album rather than a loose reset. The project folds fame, homesickness, anxiety, stress, breakups, flings, old friends, and new connections into a smooth hip-hop/R&B pocket.
That return matters because the album is presented as something to sit with and revisit; the review says it keeps revealing new details each time. It also rates 4/5, a strong mark for a release that tries to balance raw vulnerability with a sharp edge.
Isaiah Rashad and the five-year gap
Five years separated this album from Rashad’s last stretch of new material, which gives IT'S BEEN AWFUL a practical weight beyond a normal release week. He does not just reappear; he re-enters with a project built around distance, pressure, and the emotional cost of staying visible.
The album opens up about the highs and lows of fame, and that framing keeps the record from drifting into pure mood music. Instead, it reads like a catalog of mixed outcomes: success sits next to stress, and the writing keeps circling what gets lost along the way.
SZA, Dominic Fike, Juliam Sintonia
“BOY IN RED” features SZA, “CAMERAS” brings in Dominic Fike, and “DO I LOOK HIGH?” includes Juliam Sintonia. Those names matter here because the guest list is not scattered decoration; it sits inside a record the review describes as intentional.
The album also includes “SCARED 2 LOOK DOWN” and “HAPPY HOUR,” tracks that help anchor the project’s range without breaking its tone. The review says hearing one song in the context of the full album changed the writer’s mind, which is a useful signal that the sequencing does real work.
4/5 and the replay value
4/5 is the clearest shorthand for how IT'S BEEN AWFUL lands: not as a splashy comeback, but as a record with enough shape to reward repeat listening. The indie and alternative influences give it real character, while the hip-hop/R&B base keeps the album grounded.
For listeners, the practical takeaway is simple: this is not a one-pass release. Rashad has returned with a project that can be replayed, picked apart, and heard differently once the emotional details start to connect.
