Isaiah Rashad has finally broken his silence following months of silence following the leak of a sexually-explicit video.
The TDE artist performed at Coachella over the weekend, where he showed countless videos onstage of colleagues in the music industry supporting him after the leak.
During his performance at Coachella on Saturday night, Rashad showed a video montage of supporters and podcast hosts speaking on the leaked video.
During the montage, rapper The Game, podcast host Joe Budden, Akademiks, and others discuss the leaked video.
Welcome back Isaiah Rashad🔥 pic.twitter.com/nivrB7srhg
— Daily Music Jamz (@dailymusicjamz) April 17, 2022
“The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him,” a voice is heard saying during the video. “However, it backfired. When his video leaked, his streams and everything went up. He’s up on the charts now.”
Rashad opened his set with “RIP Young,” from his 2021 album The House Is Burning, and “Wat’s Wrong,” from the 2016 project The Sun’s Tirade.
After a brief pause, the 30-year-old rapper glanced at the crowd and thanked his fans for all the unconditional support.
“I’ve seen y’all messages and all that s**t, all the positivity,” Rashad said. “Y’all n****s kept me alive these last couple [of] months.”
Isaiah Rashad at Coachella 2022
“I see all the messages and all the positivity… Y’all kept me alive these last couple months.” ♥️ pic.twitter.com/ZRwKDL041j
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) April 17, 2022
In February, an explicit sex tape allegedly of Rashad went viral on the internet.
The alleged tape showed Rashad, 30, engaging in sexual acts with two other men. Rashad has not mentioned his sexuality or confirmed his involvement before, but his fans and industry colleagues fully support him. -And they are denouncing the leakers.
Many rappers and prominent media figures took the time to show him some love despite the homophobia still prevalent in hip-hop circles. It is unclear how the video was shared online, but it appears that the rapper was hacked.
During the peak of the video’s virality, fellow artists IDK, The Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish, Zoey Dollaz, IDK and more supported the rapper.
I stand with Isaiah Rashad. Nothing will change.
— IDK (@IDK) February 10, 2022
On Twitter, Rashad’s fans continued to support the rapper after his Coachella performance.
While one Twitter user acknowledged the power Rashad held by speaking out on his terms during his performance.
The first time Isaiah Rashad spoke on the controversy surrounding his sexuality is on one of the biggest platforms in the world. He gave a montage of all the blogs that reported on it. That’s a whole power move 🙌🏾.
— Dedee 🥀 (@thoughtfulbae) April 17, 2022
A second commenter noted that Rashad got emotional while performing “Wat’s Wrong.”
Seeing Isaiah Rashad shed a tear as he performs “Wat’s Wrong” was powerful. pic.twitter.com/bUWdr9AKkk
— K.i.D (@ohhthatmikey) April 17, 2022
Another Twitter user commended Rashad and other LGBTQ+ musicians in the industry, hoping that rappers like Saucy Santana are openly embraced as well.
They buried Isaiah Rashad not knowing he’s a seed. Kudos to him & to every LGBTQIA person in historically queerphobic spaces for claiming their space. Hopefully we can get more musicians like Saucy Santana embraced by the mainstream. If not we’ll always support them nonetheless.
— Sthembiso (@sthembiisso) April 17, 2022