TDE Rapper Isaiah Rashad Comes Out as Sexually Fluid

Hip Hop is a dynamic genre that continues to evolve and expand how it’s defined and who gets to define it. It’s also a genre that includes everyone – LGBTQ artists included. Rapper Isaiah Rashad is reminding us of that in his latest interview with rapper and podcaster Joe Budden, where he comes out as sexually fluid.

In February of this year, Rashad was thrust into the headlines when his private sex tape was leaked. And although it sparked conversation around the rapper’s sexuality, it also generated conversation around invasion of privacy. 

Until his interview with Budden, Rashad’s only statement on the incident came in the form of his intro to his set at this year’s Coachella. He started his portion of the music festival with a montage of different public figures, Budden included, addressing the leak of the sex tape. 

“The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him,” A voice in the montage states. “However, it backfired. When his video leaked, his streams and everything went up. He’s up on the charts now.”

The Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) rapper, whose label mates include Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and Doechii, spoke to Budden in his first interview since the video leak.

“I’d say I’m sexually fluid,” Rashad stated in the interview. “I’m still learning about it myself. I’m putting my head in the books to find out the basics of it…I’m more attracted to a personality. I’m more attracted, sometimes, to the intellect, and sometimes it’s just being attracted to somebody”

The internet was quick to provide Rashad with support.

And while many are showing their support for Rashad, others are voicing their concern over Budden’s skills and tact as an interviewer. The interview circulating around the internet shows Budden asking increasing invasive questions

Fortunately, Rashad navigates the questioning seamlessly, especially when Budden’s question about Rashad’s sexual fluidity implied that he wasn’t monogamous. 

“I have an understanding with myself to not expect anything out of myself, as far as an attraction. If I get close to somebody…I might end up being attracted to them”, Rashad stated in the interview.

And while Rashad may not be seeking legal action against whoever leaked the tape, he has found healing and a closer connection to family, within the aftermath of the situation. 

“I been just keeping my mind together and it’s a time for my family to come together”, Rashad stated to Budden. “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 been 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. I always gotta look at the brighter side of stuff”.

Hip Hop is for everyone and we love to see more queer rappers find their place in it.