San Antonio representative Izaq Roland is someone who has been making noise in the underground for quite some time now. With only 11 songs on his SoundCloud currently, fans anxiously await a project.
Izaq’s break out year came in 2015 when he dropped two of his more popular songs: “Days Like This” and “Bury Me”, which together have accumulated almost 435k plays. “Days Like This” takes you through some of his past and current struggles while he raps over and eerie and drowned out instrumental. The chorus echoes his pain stating, “When there ain’t no food in the kitchen, I done seen days like this.” The track even caught the attention of Aston Mathews (formerly signed to Joey Fatts’ Cutthroat label) who jumped on the remix.
Izaq Roland isn’t your average SoundCloud rapper with short, thrown together songs and snippets. Most of his tracks stretch into the three to four minute range. He displays his writing abilities by putting together thorough verses with catchy choruses. This can be seen on the track “IDFWN” which has a simplistic yet smooth melody. A lot of these melodies have a somewhat melancholy and tragic tone to them. Izaq Roland often relays his depression and sorrows to the listener, which can make for somber street anthems like “Cry Now, Cry Later”. This sadness comes across in the visual for this song as well. The music video contains nothing but different angles of a sad clown- a symbol for someone who is depressed but hides it.
However don’t put this kid in a box. He has a few tracks that are absolute bangers. “Donuts” and “Blue Flame” are two songs that can spark some serious energy for anyone who hears them. These songs go crazy at his live set, which can be seen on his YouTube page from when he performed at 123 Blue Star, a venue in Texas. On the chorus from “Donuts” Izaq triumphantly yells, “I told ‘em I would do it, and then I went and did it” showing he isn’t just about words but about action as well.
Izaq definitely isn’t afraid to let the fans know what he is influenced by. He has tweeted about how Z-Ro’s music helped him get through hard times when he was younger riding the bus and being angry at the world as most adolescents are. Izaq can also be seen wearing an SPM shirt quite often, another major influence of his.
He has also done work for FTP, which included releasing the song “Donuts” through their SoundCloud and taking photos wearing the brand alongside none other than Zac, the brand’s mysterious creator. He mentions FTP in many songs and even goes as far as to say he’s going to get the logo tattooed on him on “Cry Now, Cry Later”.
One of his biggest accomplishments thus far has been earning a spot on the lineup of the Mala Luna Music Festival in 2017. At this festival he opened up for some of the biggest names in hip-hop, such as Lil Wayne, Migos, Wiz Khalifa and Future.
As of late, Izaq has been pretty much a ghost. His strange disappearance from social media along with deleting a lot of tweets and songs have left his following wondering what he’s up to. A mixtape? An album? Perhaps. However, what we do know is that the future is looking bright for Izaq and many fans including myself are looking forward to what he will bring to the table in 2018.
header photo by @mookiechima