Isaiah Rashad remained silent for months but chose his performance at Coachella to finally address the controversy surrounding his sexuality.
Back in February, an explicit tape that appeared to show the TDE artist engaged in sex acts with two men leaked online. Isaiah Rashad became a trending topic as the video clip went viral. While many fans voiced their support for the star, others reacted with homophobia.
Isaiah Rashad opened his set with a video montage of reactions to the sex tape. Media personalities, including Joe Budden N.O.R.E and Akademiks all shared their views. Fellow rappers The Game and Boosie also weighed in with their takes.
“The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, it backfired,” said one commenter in the clip. Another said, “When his video leaked, his streams and everything went up. He’s up on the charts now.”
Later, Isaiah Rashad briefly paused the show to thank his fans for their support. “I see all the messages and all the positivity,” he told the crowd. “Y’all kept me alive these last couple months.”
During the performance on Saturday (Apr. 16) Rashad skipped between songs from his projects over the years. He also brought some surprise special guests to the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fellow TDE artists Doechii and SiR joined him onstage as they rocked the crowd.
TDE’s Punch Defends Isaiah Rashad
Top Dawg President Terrence “Punch” Henderson Jr. Shared Rashad’s powerful opening montage.
While he said little in the caption, Punch was the first of the Top Dawg camp to comment on the video after it went viral. He was having a conversation on Twitter about the rap G.O.A.T.s when Los Angeles-based recording artist JAHMED chimed in and derailed the discussion.
“Wait… so you want me to be concerned about another grown man’s sex life?? Is that what you’re really interested in? As [opposed] to having a dialogue about music??” asked Punch. JAHMED eventually apologized after Punch continued to defend Isaiah Rashad.
