Música

Isaiah Rashad, Joey Purp, and Ambré Join Forces on TOKiMONSTA’s “No Way”

This would be a good time to relisten to Isaiah Rashad’s brilliant 2016 LP, The Sun’s Tirade. Released this time last year—shortly after Gucci Mane’s return and Frank Ocean’s Blond/Endless cycle, the same week that Travis Scott’s Birds In The Trap… came out, just before Mac Miller, Kaytranada, Mick Jenkins, Ty Dolla $ign, and Danny Brown dropped new albums—it got the praise, but not the attention that it deserved. Rashad is rapper with an incredible groove, an effortless flow, and incisive lyrics; his ear for soulful beats fits in perfectly with the world that Top Dawg had half a hand in creating. It wasn’t exactly forgotten, but The Sun’s Tirade should have been massive.

Rashad is there alongside Joey Purp and New Orleans singer Ambré on TOKiMONSTA’s new single, “No Way.” It’s a smoothed-out breakup track that has Rashad at his most downcast and conversational; Ambré’s delivery in the chorus is honey; and Joey Purp is at his most vulnerable: “When you’re asleep it will be me you dream about, I am sure / I lie awake, it’s always you I think about, I am yours.

Videos by VICE

TOKiMONSTA, best known for her collaborations with Anderson .Paak, has a new album, Lune Rouge, coming out on October 6. “No Way” will be there alongside the MDNR-featuring first single “We Love.” On this strength, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on.

Follow Noisey on Twitter.