Isaiah Rashad was poised to be TDE's next rap star after the solo success of the Black Hippy members. However, the rapper has remained enigmatic throughout his career. Rashad revealed in a new Fader feature that supporting friends and family, and an addiction to alcohol led to him going broke and sleeping on friends' couches.
He explained that after the success of his 2016 album, The Sun's Tirade, he invited all of his friends to come live with him in LA. In addition to supporting all of his friends, Rashad developed expensive shopping habits.
"And then…I ended up sleeping on my homie's couch for like four or five months," he said. "It was the quickest fall from grace I could ever imagine."
Falling deeper into his addiction, TDE members started noticing he was regularly high and drunk during studio session started referring to him as Whitney Houston's ex-husband.
"I was really disgruntled," Rashad added. "Instead of just explaining myself, I just assumed that n***** knew. Or I would just be drunk spazzing. And nobody hears that. They just hear that you're drunk. You know they called me Bobby Brown? That s*** hurt the f*** out of my feelings. That's the worst type of vibe ever."
After a car crash and falling more into financial strain, Rashad moved back to Tennessee to live with his mother. When TDE founder Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith called him to come back Los Angeles, he was forced to reveal his struggles.
"If I drink a small quantity of alcohol, I can find myself going back to the store like a zombie for more," he explained. "It's some s*** that a lot of people don't understand. A lot of people think it's like a game. I didn't know how strong alcoholism is either. But you really can't f*** around with that s*** if you know that you have it in the family."
After Top Dawg checked Rashad into rehab, the rapper came out inspired and recorded his upcoming album sober. Isaiah Rashad released the first single for his upcoming album on Friday.
Source: Fader
