Happy It’s Been Awful release week to all who celebrate. Like many of you, we’ve been anxiously awaiting Isaiah Rashad‘s third studio album ever since word of the project started circulating.

And that started a while ago. News of Rashad’s The House Is Burning successor first surfaced in February of 2024, when Top Dawg Entertainment shared the list of albums set to be released by the label in 2024.

Zay confirmed later that year that he did have an almost-finished album in the vault, but obviously, nothing would transpire that year. Or the year after, that is. In 2025, however, he did tease a new track during his Lollapalooza performance over the summer, while once again affirming that he did, in fact, have an album on the way.

Once again, the rapper went just about radio silent until last month, when Reddit users shared physical “It’s Been Awful” placards they were receiving in the mail with their Top Dawg Entertainment orders. Within a few hours, Zay stepped back onto the scene to confirm ownership of the aforementioned placards, and that It’s Been Awful is the title of his next album. And that was how the rollout officially started.

That was just under a month ago now, making for a pretty expedited rollout – but with that being said, Zay has left nothing to the imagination in the past three weeks. Every few days, the TDE talent has dropped off a new tidbit about the record, which is shaping up to be his most dialed-in creative world to date. From the Omar Jones-led visual worldbuilding and orange-hued cover imagery, to the flipped D.A.R.E. graphic tees and range of featured artists, everything we know about It’s Been Awful ahead of its Friday release date, below.

The First Trailer

April 7th was when we got the first glimpse into the It’s Been Awful world with the album’s first official trailer. Directed by Omar Jones, the 48-second visual introduces us to the It’s Been Awful era, immersing viewers in a rural landscape where Zay – or should we say, his alter ego DJ Sunny Roshi, whom we also meet in the initial clip – is seen stumbling around a peaceful pasture, surrounded by cows. As DJ Sunny Roshi’s voiceover plays in the background, Rashad is revealed to be bleeding pretty badly from his face and abdomen, his white shirt ripped up and covered in blood.

Two faceless figures hover over Rashad at the end, the rapper lensed from an upward angle as if the two people are looking down at him. The color palette changes to black-and-white. “It’s Been Awful” and “5/1/26” hit the screen, the album title stylized in an all-caps font, elevated with the same devil ear decal on the “U” and angel halo around the “A” that was seen in the initial placards.

The trailer launch had everyone in the comments. From ScHoolboy Q, Jordan Ward, and Ab-Soul, to Hidden.NY and Apple Music.

The Cover Art (and Alternative Cover Art)

Revealed in tandem with the tracklist, Rashad presented the orange-hued official cover art on April 14. Shot by TDE affiliate photographer Matt Miller, the official cover image sees the rapper posted up against a bright orange curtain – headless.

Complementing the official album cover comes a slate of “alternative cover art” as well, which is lensed by Quil Harwood-Lemons. The additional imagery is what appears on the album’s vinyl iterations, envisioned on the sleeve as well as on the vinyl itself. Zay is pictured cheesing hard outside the airstream trailer used across the project’s visuals in one image, while in another outside shot, he sits in a beige lounge chair, smiling just as big, in an all-denim fit.

Omar Jones’ Curation of the Visual World

Aside from the cover imagery, Omar Jones has played a key role in shaping the visual identity of It’s Been Awful. Jones’ rolodex of A-list collaborators – including many in the hip-hop space – spans Pusha T and Amaarae, with a particular tie to the TDE talent hub as well, having worked with Doechii, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q on their respective visuals. With that being said, it was only right that Jones step in for the It’s Been Awful rollout.

As established in the initial trailer, It’s Been Awful leans into a very distinct visual world, with the main frame defined by an airstream trailer in the middle of a field of grass. A billboard stamped with the It’s Been Awful iconography stands next to the trailer, with a street sign for Chattanooga, Tennessee, Rashad’s hometown, right behind it. TDE satellite dishes stand atop the trailer, with a line of clothes drying outside. It’s this same scene that appears across a majority of the album’s visuals.

The Lead Single: “SAME SH!T”

It’s Been Awful‘s lead single landed pretty soon after the official news of the album transpired. The first sonic sign of life from the imminent project, “SAME SH!T” dropped on April 10, arriving alongside its high-octane, Jones-shot music video.

The Tracklist and Feature Lineup

Zay did not make us wait for the tracklist. Usually, one of the last things revealed literally in the eleventh hour of the rollout, Rashad graced us with the full tracklist pretty early on. Situated atop the same orange curtain, the LP’s tracklist rounds out at a total of 16 songs, with titles including, of course, lead single “SAME SH!T,” along with “Scared 2 Look Down,” “Ain’t Givin’ Up” and “Nuthin 2 Hide.”

As for features, seasoned collaborator SZA shows out on track four, “Boy in Red,” whereas Julian Sintonia assists on “Do I Look High?” and Dominic Fike on “Cameras.”

Sunny Roshi TV

Aside from the still images correlated to the cover and the official music videos, It’s Been Awful expands to yet another visual component. Rashad first rolled out “EPISODE 1: HAPPY HOUR” last week, which features a cameo from labelmate ScHoolboy Q, and a new song snippet. Rashad is seen posted up in his bedroom in the airstream, before stepping outside and circling. At the time, no one really knew what this “series” would shape up to be.

Until earlier this week, when we got the second episode, “EPISODE 2: NIGHT SHIFT.” The second episode sees Zay continue to step into his “DJ Sonny Roshi” alias who just might be narrating the album, and features an appearance from SZA.

Yesterday, the rapper took to Instagram to share a new freestyle in place of the next episode. “PARDON THE INTERRUPTION. EPISODE 3 DELAYED. “DIRTY WORDS FREESTYLE,” he wrote, paired with a brief new freestyle.

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The Merch Lineup

The official merchandise slate for the album has brought the album’s narrative world to the physical, complete with a solid offering of It’s Been Awful-inspired apparel and goods.

On the clothing front, the D.A.R.E.-inspired graphic leads the pack, reimagined through the dialed-in It’s Been Awful lens. Hoodies and tees also come imprinted with the signature It’s Been Awful iconography across the middle.

Audiophiles, rejoice. Zay did not hold back when curating the lineup of limited-edition physical copies of the album. Different cover art appears across each CD and vinyl, along with an ultra-limited run of signed copies.