About Isaiah Rashad
Isaiah Rashad Joel McClain is an American rapper. His mainstream breakthrough followed after his performances on the 2012 Smoker's Club Tour alongside rappers Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA. He is a founding member of the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based hip hop collective The House, which he formed with rappers YGTUT, Michael Da Vinci , Chris P, and Brian Brown.
McClain signed with the Carson, California-based record label, Top Dawg Entertainment to release his debut extended play , Cilvia Demo . Met with widespread critical acclaim, it marked his first entry on the Billboard 200 and foresaw McClain's inclusion as part of XXL Magazine's 2014 Annual Freshman Class issue. His debut studio album, The Sun's Tirade was met continued praise and peaked at number 17 on the chart. Preceding a series of public controversies, McClain signed with Warner Bros. Records to release his released his long-delayed second album and major label debut, The House Is Burning .
Isaiah Rashad Joel McClain was born on May 16, 1991, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was raised primarily by his mother, who is a hairdresser. When he was young, Rashad's father would let him stay up late while they listened to Too $hort and Scarface. His father left the family when Rashad was three. Rashad briefly had ambitions of becoming a preacher. After his stepbrother lent him a copy of OutKast's ATLiens in junior high, Rashad started spending most of his time rapping. In his youth, Isaiah's mother and stepfather were part of the Five-Percent Nation and he recounts going to a mosque with them.
Rashad first began rapping seriously in tenth grade, while he and his friends would record on laptops. At one point, the first stage name he used was Zay Taylor. After high school, he went to Middle Tennessee State University. Then his friend who went to school for music production introduced Rashad to a friend who had a recording studio. As it turned out, the man happened to be his cousin and he let Rashad record there for free. Once his cousin moved on to a different job, Rashad bounced around a couple of local studios. He stopped going to school and lived wherever he could record.
He began getting industry connects, forging relationships with DJ Z and Max Pete from DJBooth.net and Jeff Weiss who writes for Rolling Stone. From that his music began getting passed around to various A&R's. From July 13 to August 23, 2012, Isaiah Rashad toured with Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA among others, on the 2012 Smoker's Club Tour. In December 2012, Rashad began getting attention from various record labels, most of which he showed no interest in. He also released many free singles on SoundCloud using beats from well known producers such as MF Doom and Flying Lotus, which helped increase his popularity.
In March 2013, Rashad met production team Digi+Phonics' Dave Free, who then introduced him to Anthony Tiffith, the CEO of Carson, California-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment . On June 3, 2013, it was reported that Rashad was the recent buzz about signing to Top Dawg Entertainment, home to rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock. However, the label did not release an official statement. Over the following months the label and Rashad remained coy about the signing, not confirming anything.
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