2009–2012: beginnings Rashad first began rapping seriously in tenth grade, while he and his friends would record on laptops. 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. From that his music began getting passed around to various
A&R's. 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.
2013–2014: label signing and Cilvia Demo 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 (TDE). Over the following months the label and Rashad remained coy about the signing, not confirming anything. Then on September 20, 2013, Top Dawg Entertainment made the signing official with Top Dawg announcing it over
Twitter. However, he revealed he had been signed to the label since March. To celebrate the signing announcement, a music video for a new song titled "Shot You Down" was released. It was his first new song released in over a year. On October 15, 2013, Isaiah Rashad made his national television debut when he participated in the TDE Cypher during the
2013 BET Hip Hop Awards, alongside his label-mates Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock.
XXL praised the verse as strong, even through the high pressure Rashad had to impress the masses.
Entertainment Weekly also praised his verse during the cypher. On October 18, 2013, the remix to "Shot You Down" featuring ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock was released via
SoundCloud. On November 7, 2013, Rashad told
Revolt that he would be releasing his very first official project
Cilvia during December 2013. Closing out 2013,
HipHopDX named Rashad a runner-up for their award for "Rising Star of the Year". In early January 2014,
Complex named him one of the new rappers most likely to "blow up" during 2014. In mid-January 2014, Rashad revealed that the mixtape
Cilvia would now be his debut
extended play (EP) and would not contain many featured artists. On January 17, CEO Top Dawg revealed the cover artwork for the EP and that
Cilvia Demo would be released digitally on January 28, 2014. It revealed features from TDE's SZA and Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q on the remix of "Shot You Down". The day before the EP's release, Rashad released the music video for the
Cilvia Demo song, "Soliloquy". As promised,
Cilvia Demo was released on January 28, 2014, via digital download retailers and was made available in
CD format exclusively from Top Dawg Entertainment's website.
Cilvia Demo received widespread acclaim upon its release and debuted at number 40 on the US
Billboard 200 chart, selling 8,500 copies in the United States during its first week of release.
2014–2016: ''The Sun's Tirade'' and further recognition at
FYF Fest in August 2016 From March 1 to June 1, 2014, Rashad toured with
ScHoolboy Q for the entirety of his international tour supporting his third studio album
Oxymoron. On May 5, 2014,
XXL revealed Rashad was included in their annual freshman class, alongside fellow up-and-comers
Chance the Rapper,
Ty Dolla $ign,
Rich Homie Quan,
Vic Mensa,
August Alsina,
Troy Ave,
Kevin Gates,
Lil Bibby,
Jon Connor,
Lil Durk and
Jarren Benton. On July 18, 2014, Rashad performed at the
Pitchfork Music Festival. The following year, it was announced that Rashad will be included in a docu-series by Sprite, which will support the brand's "Obey Your Verse" Lyrical Collection. On August 30, 2015, Rashad tweeted that he had completed and turned in his anticipated follow-up project to
Cilvia Demo, and that it would be released soon. On September 20, 2015, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith stated that new material from Rashad would arrive by the end of 2015. On September 23, 2015, Rashad released a new single entitled "Nelly", to critical acclaim. It was later confirmed by Rashad through a deleted tweet, that his upcoming follow-up project would be his debut studio album. On January 14, 2016, the album's second single, "Smile", was released on the internet to positive reception. In August 2016, he released the single "Free Lunch" to wide acclaim, and later confirmed his debut studio album's release date. After releasing two new tracks, "I Mean" and "Park", Rashad released his debut studio album, titled ''
The Sun's Tirade, on September 2, 2016, to widespread critical acclaim. The album debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard'' 200, selling 19,000 copies its first week. On October 24, 2016, Rashad announced his first U.S. headlining tour, the
Lil Sunny Tour, via Twitter, stopping in 22 cities and set to begin in January 2017. In response to several sold-out shows, Rashad announced that his tour would extend into 24 additional cities, as well as adding second shows in Chicago, Boston and New York.
2017–present: The House Is Burning and ''It's Been Awful'' On October 23, 2017, Rashad issued several tweets hinting at a new album coming. The album, which would be the second studio album and third full-length project coming from Rashad and Top Dawg Entertainment, would follow successful releases by fellow TDE artists SZA and Kendrick Lamar. In May 2019, Rashad played excerpts of various unreleased tracks. During an
Instagram live
video on June 20, 2019, he played a new excerpts of a song produced by
Kenny Beats and announced the title of his upcoming studio album to be
The House Is Burning. On April 22, 2020, Rashad released the song "Why Worry" as part of TDE's Fan Appreciation Week. In an interview for
The Fader, Rashad announced
The House Is Burning was slated for release in June 2021. On May 7, 2021, Rashad released the albums first single, "Lay wit Ya" featuring
Duke Deuce, alongside a music video directed by Omar Jones. It was also announced on all digital platform credits for the song that Rashad signed a joint venture with
Warner Bros. Records. On June 17, 2021, Rashad released the album's second single "Headshots (4r da Locals)." A music video for the song was released six days later, directed by Jack Begert and
Mez Heirs. On July 7, 2021, Rashad revealed the album's cover art and a July 30 release date, via his social media platforms.
Pitchfork rated this release a 7.6 out of 10. Rashad's third studio album, titled ''
It's Been Awful'', was released on May 1, 2026. Its lead single, "Same Sh!t", was released on April 10 along with its music video. == Artistry ==