musicbriefs
10:01in productionCh. 1 · Made in crisis/ 10:01 · ceiling 15 min
Hip-hop · Jazz

The Sun’s Tirade

Isaiah Rashad · 2016

A jazzy, upbeat record about being stuck inside your own head — and why that’s where the music has to live.

The Sun's Tirade is Isaiah Rashad's debut studio album, released on September 2, 2016. It was recorded during a period of personal struggle with depression and addiction. Its production draws from hip-hop, trap, trip hop, soul, and jazz. It is a loose concept album with reflective, conscious themes. It debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, selling 19,000 copies in its first week.

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Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 1:11
    Made in crisis

    It is shaped by addiction and depression — not as metaphors, but as conditions that define its pacing, repetition, and vocal delivery.

  2. 2:48
    Jazz and trap in the same room

    Its sound is built from jazz harmony, trap rhythm, soul texture, and southern hip-hop cadence — not blended, but stacked.

  3. 4:08
    Loose, not vague

    It is a loose concept album — ideas recur, fracture, reappear — but never resolve into thesis or catharsis.

  4. 6:25
    Critical and commercial, unsoftened

    It landed commercially and critically without smoothing its edges — proof that reflective hip-hop can move units without compromise.

Running order17
  1. 01
    where u at?0:44
  2. 02
    4r Da Squaw3:53
  3. 03
    Free Lunch3:12

    Heard in The War on Kids (2009)

  4. 04
    Rope // rosegold4:44
  5. 05
    Wat’s Wrong5:31
  6. 06
    Park2:53
  7. 07
    Bday3:53
  8. 08
    Silkk Da Shocka2:46
  9. 09
    Tity and Dolla4:58
  10. 10
    Stuck in the Mud7:03

    Heard in Alien Resurrection (1997)

  11. 11
    A lot3:26

    Heard in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

  12. 12
    AA3:30
  13. 13
    Dressed Like Rappers3:26
  14. 14
    Don’t Matter2:57

    Heard in Mankatha

  15. 15
    Brenda4:10
  16. 16
    by george (outro)3:18
  17. 17
    Find a Topic (homies begged)2:48

Film placements are the ones described in each film's own entry, so the list is partial rather than complete.

Worth your time?

Yes. Hear the whole thing.

4/ 5
What works
  • its jazzy, upbeat sonic palette
  • its reflective, conscious tone
  • its loose conceptual framing
  • its production diversity
What does not
  • avoid repetition
  • resolve its central tension
  • prioritise melody over atmosphere
Hear it if
  • listeners who value interiority over exposition
  • fans of layered, textural hip-hop production
Skip it if
  • listeners seeking narrative closure
  • those who prefer tightly structured songwriting
The written brief1 min read

What the record is and where it came from

The Sun’s Tirade is Isaiah Rashad’s debut studio album. It was recorded during a period in which Rashad experienced struggles with depression and addiction. He completed and turned it in by August 30, 2015.

How it sounds, and how it was made

The album is much more jazzy and upbeat than Cilvia Demo. Its production draws from hip-hop, trap, trip hop, soul, and jazz. It incorporates stylistic and production elements of southern hip-hop, jazz, neo soul, trap, and progressive hip-hop. Producers include Mike Will Made It, D. Sanders, Cam O’bi, J. LBS, The Antydote and Chris Calor.

What lands

The reflective tone lands. The jazzy, upbeat sonic palette lands. The loose concept structure lands. The production diversity lands.

What does not

It does not avoid repetition across its 17-track runtime. It does not simplify its thematic weight into resolution. It does not foreground melody over texture or mood.

The ideas inside it

The album is a loose concept album. It is characterised by personal themes: substance abuse, depression, and Rashad’s personal struggles with alcohol and Xanax addiction. It features a strongly reflective and conscious tone.

Who should hear it, and who should not

People who want hip-hop that foregrounds internal state over narrative arc should hear it. People who expect linear storytelling or polished hooks should not.

Is it worth your time

Yes. It debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, selling 19,000 copies in its first week. It was released on September 2, 2016, to widespread critical acclaim.

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