Isaiah Rashad is speaking his truth, and this time it’s on his own terms.
The 31-year-old rapper has had had a wild ride of a year. In February, an alleged gay sex tape featuring him with another man was leaked on Twitter.
The 26-second clip first surfaced on an Atlanta-based account called The Vault, which specializes in celebrity gossip and, apparently, outing people by sharing their private videos.
If there was silver lining to the gross invasion of privacy, it was the massive show of support from Rashad’s fans.
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The outpouring of love was not lost on the “West Savannah” singer, who addressed the leak during the intro to his Coachella set two months later.
Isaiah Rashad’s intro video at Coachella: “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, that backfired. When his video leaked, his dreams and everything went up.” pic.twitter.com/xnPUzuftmT
— Pigeons & Planes (@PigsAndPlans) April 17, 2022
Just before making his entrance, a video montage showed media commentary on the story. One voice-over clip stood out among the others: “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, it backfired.”
Standing before the cheering crowd, Rashad thanked his fans for their love and support. “I see all the messages and all that sh*t, all the positivity,” he said with a quiver in his voice. “Y’all kept me alive these last couple months, so we’re going to keep this motherf*cker running.”
Now, in a new Patreon-exlusive interview with fellow rapper Joe Budden, Rashad is opening up even more.
“So I have to ask you,” Budden says to Rashad during the sit-down. “You said your family knew, your grandparents knew, your girl knew, but for the people who didn’t know, how do you identify today?”
Related: Rapper Taylor Bennett talks coming out
“I’d say I’m sexually fluid,” Rashad says.
“What does that mean?” Budden responds.
“I’m still learning about it myself,” Rashad says. “I’m putting my head in the books to find out the basics of it. But basically, I’m not in full control when I walk into a room of who I’m attracted to.”
“Just because I grew up in high school I dated this type of person, in college dated this type of person, it doesn’t mean that as an adult it’s always going to be, like, specific. But I’m more so attracted to a personality, and I’m attracted to the intellect. And sometimes it’s just being attracted to somebody.”
Isaiah Rashad says that he identifies as being sexually fluid
In his first interview since the sextape tape leak, he opens up about everything pic.twitter.com/YyOrq4Bt3Y
— SOUND (@itsavibe) May 26, 2022
Rashad also revealed that he is declining to take legal action against the person who leaked the tape.
Isaiah Rashad says he's not seeking legal action currently against the person who leaked his sextape pic.twitter.com/zxJ5f1RLtF
— SOUND (@itsavibe) May 26, 2022
“I haven’t even been thinking about it, honestly,” Rashad said. “I been just keeping my mind together and it’s a time for my family to come together. Out of everything, it’s been a blessing that with that happening, and my grandad dying a couple of days afterward, and my grandma going through what she’s going through, it’s been a concentration of family together, more than they had been before. So if anything, I can’t be mad at everything about it. Always gotta look at the brighter side of stuff.”
Heywood Jablowme
If your sex tape is full of sexual fluid, it will leak out eventually.
shaunpaul1234
Ummm, was the stmt even NECC???
I think the video says it ALL!!
Duh!!!!
Donston
Of course, as I’ve said many times, fluidity is a real experience for many folks. (But also, some people are just using “fluid” for anything. Plain ol’ bisexuality or pansexuality is still a thing). While everyone has their own thing when it comes to sexual dimensions, general preferences, struggles, motivations, insecurities, the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum.
However, he honestly just sounds like he’s mirroring what some people around him have told him rather than actually speaking about his dimensions and struggles and journey. It’s very cliche and aligns with a lot of the same old stuff we get from guys “coming out”, especially ones attaching to something non “gay”, but it is what it is.
It is disappointing that he decided to give this interview to a “straight presenting” guy who’s been known to say a lot of misogynistic and sometimes homophobic and queer-shaming shit throughout the years. But one thing insecure DL/in the queer spectrum black men are gonna do is stay trying to get “straight presenting” black male approval. Oh well.
shaunpaul1234
Whtevr!!
Pan, fluid, bi,
All these unecc classifications!!
Hes whtevr he chooses!!
Poss, Prbly BI!!
So, what!!
Just like his struggles, it all his business!!
He dosent have to tl anyone, jack-shit!!
As long as hes not in public calling people fags while having some nasty fun in private!!
All the Best to him and his career!!
Donston
I barely comprehended what you said. But yes, it’s all his business. And he could have kept it his business by not giving this exclusive interview. He also could have kept it his business by not filming himself sucking dick.
I couldn’t care less about identities. But I also think we have incredibly low standards for non gay presenting black males. I do sympathize with the dude and wish him well. But if we’re gonna evolve we need to evolve the conversation beyond identities and “well, at least he’s not calling people faags”. And yeah, giving this interview to a straight-presenting guy who has said a decent amount of misogynistic and gay shaming shit is definitely not a good look.
maddog
“But basically, I’m not in full control when I walk into a room of who I’m attracted to.”
Awesome comment. I can truly agree with this. I CAN control my ACTIONS on those attractions, but the attractions themselves (particularly sexual, as opposed to intellectual or personality attractions) just “happen”.
shaunpaul1234
Right-On!!!
Donston
Of course, no one has any control over their attractions, and we should all know by now how individual sexuality is. I am getting a lil tired of this “I’m attracted to intelligence” stuff that’s become popular these last few years. Like, yes, intelligence or wit can be attractive. But it really is starting to feel like a bunch of people just repeating the same lines as each other. While the same folks talking about “intelligence” will often end up seriously dating basic arm candy that’s dumb as box of rocks. You can be real about simply having some fluidity or contradictions or contending with hyper-sexuality or fetishes/paraphiliacs or having some attractions to a certain kind of person but having more romantic attachment, relationship fulfillment, commitment ambitions toward another type of person. We don’t have to suddenly start trying to make everything about “intelligence”.
The dependence on cliches kinda impede people being real about their dimensions and struggles and preferences and journeys and often keeps people from really understanding the makeup of their psychology and the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment. But I do understand that a lot of people lean on these cliches because they don’t really know how to express themselves or because they don’t want people to know too much.
Eternal.Cowboy
Donston –
Jesus you have a really narrow view and weirdly expect everyone to conform to it for you comfort. Time to evolve and move forward.
Donston
It’s not about conforming to anything. It’s talking about real issues and talking about them in a nuanced way, rather than the same platitudes and cliches. While no matter how you frame it, trying to explain your “sexuality” on a podcast by a guy who makes a living off of misogyny and trolling, it was not the move.
Donston
So many of y’all love to take what someone says and make it what you want. There’s nothing in my posts that’s about “conforming”. I always stay focused on nuance and evolving the conversation.
Kangol2
So my read is he was DL, he was outed by the video, he’s still not fully comfortable in terms of being an out(ed) public figure, he chose the term “sexually fluid” (while still mentioning his “girl” etc.) and vague constructs and terms like talking about who was dating in high school, college, etc., or being into someone because of their “intelligence” as a way of somewhat hedging, when the reality is that he clearly likes to have sex at least with men, and probably women.
Rashad’s on a journey. I don’t fault him for it. He’s not at the self-affirming stage yet. Lots of people out there are still extremely homophobic and transphobic and anti-LGBTQ, and violently so, especially these days, and I’m sure he’s been dealing with this his whole life. It’s wonderful his fans affirmed and celebrated him. He’s taking steps toward that himself. We all witnessed the huge backlash, and not just from fellow hip hop artists, against Lil Nas X, just for coming out and being himself. So I don’t fault Isaiah and wish him the best on his journey.
I also feel like he chose Joe Budden because despite Budden’s past homophobic statements, he teased that comment about being bisexual, and in more recent exchanges has seemed somewhat more ambiguous or even queer-affirming, like when he basically recently turned the tables on the homophobic guy in the barbershop.
Donston
We accept internalized phobias, gay panic, overt queer insecurities, homo shaming, femme-shaming, bottom shaming, mono sexual shaming, bi/pan shaming, leeching off of gays/queers for money and status all because a guy isn’t calling folks “faags” publicly or because simply because they’re willing to publicly connect to queerness. Not saying any of that stuff is what is going on here. But these low ass standards we have for men is almost disturbing and just contribute to problems. While if he really did his research he’d know that Joe Budden is widely known for perpetuating misogyny, for gay shaming, for trolling queers. And that’s without how he tried to come at Lil Nas X for coming out. Whether Joe is in the queer spectrum or if he’s trolling doesn’t even matter. It was still the wrong person to go to. While the interview seemed more like a desperate reach to appease the ignorant straight-presenting black males that are the biggest percentage of Joe’s audience. And we saw with Lil Nas X that trying to play that game doesn’t work.
I do feel bad for what happened to Rashad. And it’s clear that he still has a ways to go as far as confronting his issues and insecurities, developing genuine self-comfort, understanding his sexual dimensions and the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, relationship, commitment spectrum. And that’s fine. I wish him well. But the same old tired patterns definitely need to be called out when they’re presented.
Doug
I feel for this guy. There’s no reason he should have to be defending himself for being gay, especially after someone leaked a tape they had no business doing.
bachy
I feel sorry for him too. It is a popular contemporary belief that every feeling, every desire, every passing infatuation needs to be brought into the light for the whole world to see. But some flowers bloom only in darkness.
Barefootboyz
Who??????????????????
SFMike
This is only a big deal because rapping culture is so homophobic and racist. So over these people and their dubious “talent.”
IanHunter
I agree. That is exactly he was worried about.
ShiningSex
Yes, first off….WHO?
Second…fluid? Girl, you gay. Accept it.
Blaktarn
The problem isn’t him accepting himself, it’s the assholes that feel they have the right to put others business in the streets. It wasn’t right when back in the day gays outed others to feel better and in fact more hurt was caused than good. Everyone decides when they want to be whatever they choose and others do not have the right to do so to make a few bucks or make their sorry lives seem better.
Donston
We don’t have a clue who put that video out there. And it’s actually unlikely that it was an out and “gay presenting” guy. In the video it also seemed as if Rashad was filming it himself, likely using his own phone. So, whoever “leaked” the video probably wasn’t the person whose dick was being sucked but someone who got ahold of Rashad’s phone. Can we not find any excuse to go in on “gays”? It’s tired, and it’s often a reflection of internalized phobias and your own insecurities and traumas. Also, “gays” are just as varied as anybody. For every queer who outs a guy there are four more who keep the DL guys’ secrets. In fact, I was outed by my sister and female friend not by the few dudes I hooked up with or the couple guys I dated on the low.
Fluidity is very much a real thing. I’ve experienced it and so have many. Traumas, fluidity, hyper-sexuality, low sex drive, stretches of a-sexuality, erectile disfunction issues, fetishes, paraphiliacs, contradictions as far as the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum. All those things can make sexuality “confusing” or “complicated” or can contribute to internalized phobia and insecurities and mental health problems. So, it’s not just prejudice, hetero pressures, non-homo privileges, religion, gay panic, sociology that contribute to the problems. Though those are all still very prominent things. I try to remember all of that before judging.