30.
Isaiah Rashad
Cilvia
Last Project: N/A
Top Dawg Entertainment
It’s his first project and he made our list, not too shabby Isaiah. Still, the young Tennessee rep has got a lot to prove. He’s taken his time releasing music—“Shot You Down” being the most impressive of the cuts—but the singles he currently has out are indicative of a more versatile artist than previously projected. For Rashad to be the only rapper since the formation of Black Hippy to be signed to TDE is a big deal: if anyone’s familiar with the type of rapping talents on that label, it’s understandable why all eyes are on Cilvia, Rashad’s debut TDE mixtape. He’s young, and the jury’s still out on his talents as an artist—not just as a rapper—considering his .mp3 file is quite skimpy. But if we’ve learned anything from the three songs he has out, number one, he’s not afraid to speak his mind. Number two, there’s no shortage of passion in him, and in case you’ve heard of this other rapper on Rashad’s label named Kendrick Lamar, that can take you a long way.