Rapper Isaiah Rashad addresses leaked sex tape for first time at Coachella

Throughout his Coachella efficiency on Saturday night time, the rapper Isaiah Rashad made his first public feedback a couple of video that leaked in February that appeared to indicate him in a sexual scenario with males.

Rashad, a fixture of the SoCal label High Dawg Leisure (alongside Kendrick Lamar and SZA), performed a prerecorded video simply earlier than his Sahara Tent set. The brief clip included media commentary and voiceovers concerning the unauthorized launch of the footage. “The aim of doing that was to embarrass him. Nevertheless, it backfired,” mentioned one voice within the clip.

Whereas artists like Lil Nas X and Tyler, the Creator have opened up new room in hip-hop for for queer Black males, Rashad’s outing was in opposition to his will.

An emotional Rashad informed the Coachella crowd that fan help had been a lifeline for him. “I see all of the messages and all of the positivity,” he mentioned, to swells of cheers. “Y’all saved me alive these final couple months.”

The 30-year-old Rashad then performed a sometimes incendiary set, that includes songs off his well-regarded 2021 LP “The Home Is Burning” resembling “RIP Younger” and “Lay Wit Ya,” and “Rope // Rosegold,” from 2016’s “The Solar’s Tirade.”

Later within the present he was joined onstage by the buzzy new TDE signee Doechii for “Wat U Sed.”