Isaiah Rashad — Tiny Desk (NPR), Washington D.C., 2026

This filmed live concert captures American rapper Isaiah Rashad for his first appearance in NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series, in Washington D.C., in 2026. A member of the TDE label, the Chattanooga (Tennessee) artist delivers, backed by a live band, a dense set of thirteen songs in around twenty minutes, drawing on his album IT’S BEEN AWFUL as well as his older catalogue. The set opens with Heavenly Father, from his foundational mixtape Cilvia Demo, and moves through West Savannah, Headshots (4r da Locals), Wat’s Wrong and SUPAFICIAL, between laid-back flows and organic productions. The unshowy Tiny Desk format highlights the rhythmic placement and melancholy characteristic of his writing. Representative of 2020s live rap, this full performance shows how an MC known for introspective records reclaims his tracks in a stage version. A valuable document on a discreet but influential artist of the contemporary American hip-hop scene.