The House is Burning: Album Review
It’s been five years since the world has heard from Isaiah Rashad, and in those five years, the music landscape has shifted underneath him. For context, the albums Blonde, Lemonade, and The Life of Pablo came out five years ago in 2016, but Rashad has never been one to rush. He has built a career on creating a vibe for the world to ride on, and on his newest project, he continues this trend with a few notable differences. The House is Burning sounds like a project that has spent years stewing, and as a result, comes out with the kind of flavor that can only be crafted by time. Even when you may not like a sound or bar, you know that Isaiah Rashad has poured his existence into this project.
In contrast to some of Rashad’s earlier music, The House is Burning takes a heavy influence from traditional Southern hip-hop sounds like trap and crunk. The new-generation crunker Duke Deuce makes an appearance early on the project, and Rashad’s frequent soulful collaborator YGTUT appears later. These southern sounds add to the homey vibe of the project. Rashad seems incredibly comfortable with these styles which allows him to mix and match genres without leaving his comfort zone. The album brings you in and makes you feel like part of the family as Rashad tells you his stories.
The stories that Rashad tells on The House is Burning all have a melancholy feel. Some songs like “Don’t Shoot” are explicitly sad as Rashad takes us through how your neighborhood can directly affect how you interact with the world. The song is charged with animosity for everybody, but rapped over a relaxing, gorgeous instrumental backing. Other songs are much less explicit in their sadness like “RIP YOUNG.” The song follows a similar cadence to “R.I. P Kevin Miller” from Rashad’s Cilvia Demo, as Rashad reflects on the times spent in his youth. The song takes you on a ride with Rashad, stopping at red lights and hopping out of the car every once in a while. Songs like this demonstrate Rashad’s ability to create songs that feel both relaxing and melancholy.
The House is Burning is excellently sequenced and always keeps you on your toes. Rashad perfectly mixes a variety of sounds and influences and uses features to tie various parts of the record together. For example, the song “Wat U Sed” features Iamdoechii, someone who is hard to imagine on a Rashad song, but Rashad has a way of making any artist feel right at home in his rhythms. Iamdoechii’s voice glides over the beat as she sings “drunk drunk drunk drunk on a Saturday,” introducing an entirely new dimension to the track. She opens the track up and offers a momentary distraction before we dive back into Rashad’s subterranean world.
Isaiah Rashad is one of the most consistent artists of this generation: he simply does not drop bad music. On The House is Burning, Rashad continues to push himself forward while remaining true to his roots. He proves why his music is always worth the wait, and I’m sure this album will still be in everyone’s rotations in 2026.