It’s been five long years since Isaiah Rashad’s last album The Sun’s Tirade. The rapper from Chattanooga had been through hell and back. He’s been through it all including: going to rehab, losing nearly all his money, and even was at a point where he walked away from making music. Being able to see Rashad perform at all on stage with high spirits was a feat in and of itself.

Isaiah came to San Diego ready to rap songs from his highly anticipated follow-up album, The House Is Burning, Rashad was back and better than ever. Ever since signing with the legendary music label TDE back in 2014, troubles in his personal life has tormented his music career. The crowd at Soma was ready to embrace Isaiah and celebrate his well-deserved redemption arc and give Rashad his flowers that he rightfully earned. However, he had no desire in receiving them.

Just as the concert was near it’s crescendo with the song “From The Garden” as it entered its final chorus, Rashad departed the stage. It looked like he had no intentions of saying farewell to his fans that ate out of the palm of his hands, let alone perform an encore. He was playing bangers near the end of his set with “Free Lunch“, “Lay Wit Ya”, and “Shot U Down”. Three great songs from different eras of his musical career.

Rashad warned the audience early on at the beginning of his set that he had two rules: keep things chill and don’t push people around. Who knows if Isaiah Rashad was a prophet or just knew his fanbase so well but by putting bangers near the end of his set, he made sure there was no disasters at his show. Realistically however, the calm left the storm pretty much three songs into Rashad’s set. Hyped performances from his openers Childish Major and one of the newest artists signed to TDE, Ray Vaughn, had the crowd amped up for when the headliner finally arrived. Appeasing the crowd with fan favorites, joints off the new album, and his trademark of slow jams, he commanded attention and the fans happily obliged.

He has been building a loyal, passionate fanbase ever since his debut project on TDE Cilvia Demo while developing a reputation as a tormented genius. Playing songs such as the beloved can’t-help-but-sing-a-long-to “Park”. While he didn’t play too many songs from his first project, he seemed happiest when performing such throwbacks such as “R.I.P. Kevin Miller” and “Heavenly Father“.

Sporting a custom San Diego Padres jersey with “Sunny” embroidered on the back, Rashad looked and felt like he belonged in the city. When he performed a standout off the new album, “Tity and Dolla,” the fans gave him a standing ovation midway through his set. Despite Rashad’s best efforts to seem nonchalant, his Lil Sunny’s Awesome Vacation Tour was an ode to all his years of hard work as a musical artist.

While almost every fan in attendance was there for Isaiah Rashad, he brought out Childish Major and Ray Vaughn back to the stage for a reprise of the latter’s “Top Shottas” off Vaughn’s new project, Peer Pressure EP. It was another display of the love and respect that artists under TDE have for each other. Not only was this concert a sign of victory for Rashad after being stuck in a spiral for a traumatic past five years, but this tour made it look like he emerged with a newfound renewal for music. As he closed out the show with “Headshots (4r Da Locals)“, he rapped to the crowd “If i’m gone, don’t trip” but I doubt we’ll have to wait another 5 years before we see Isaiah Rashad again with new music.