Isaiah Rashad Reflects on Life in the Spotlight as a Bisexual Black Artist

Isaiah Rashad has spent much of his career in a space where critical praise rarely matches mainstream attention. His new album, It’s Been Awful, arrives after a five-year pause and reads less like a reset than a document of continuity. It is released under the Top Dawg Entertainment banner. In addition, it opens a window into a period shaped as much by introspection as by disruption. That context lingers from 2022. At that time, a private sex tape involving Rashad surfaced online and drew intense public focus to his sexuality and personal life.

In a recent interview, Rashad spoke with unusual directness about what followed. “I went through some shit to an extent, but it was, you know… between being an artist and the expectations of that, and I guess the deconstruction of my masculinity, it’s been a lot of getting to know myself,” He continued, “I’m blessed to how everything happened with me,” he continued. “And the reception of everything. Because it allowed me to really step back and re-examine what I was doing. ‘Cause regardless of how much I love myself, I still put myself in an irresponsible situation for anyone to control my narrative.” The comments reflect an artist sorting through both public reaction and private recalibration.

Isaiah Rashad on Identity, Visibility, and Finding Himself

He also addressed how identity can become harder to define when it is constantly interpreted by others. “At some point, I’ve accepted that they don’t make a manual for being a bisexual Black men or any of that type of shit. It was less hiding myself from anything, and more so not knowing how to not be ostracized.” The line reads less like closure and more like an ongoing accounting of uncertainty.

In the time since the leak, Rashad has occasionally spoken to audiences directly, including a moment of acknowledgment at Coachella. He later expanded on those reflections in a conversation with Joe Budden. In that discussion, he described a process still unfolding, shaped by visibility, discomfort, and the slow work of self-understanding.