Isaiah Rashad stopped by the Genius Verified studio to discuss his hit song “Heavenly Father” in honor of the song’s 10-year anniversary. It’s a deeply personal song from Zay’s beloved Cilvia Demo EP, which dropped a decade ago this weekend (Jan. 28, 2014).

On today’s episode, the Chattanooga MC reflects on the song and his evolution. “When I think about the mentality I was in, of not thinking I would make it to 25 to being here right now at 32, honestly, I’m like, ‘Damn, that was a dramatic little boy. Shame on him.’ Thank God I don’t feel like that anymore.”

In this episode, Zay also reveals that “Heavenly Father” might not have been released without SZA. “[I remember] that SZA came in and saved it,” he says of her featured appearance. “It was gonna be on the scrap floor because I didn’t like [the song before].”

Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch also helped encourage the song’s experimentation and its release. “It was the making of people believing in me,” Rashad recalls. “It was me giving something raw out of myself and the homies making me put it out.”

Read more on Genius: https://genius.com/a/isaiah-rashad-br...
Read all the lyrics to "Heavenly Father" on Genius: https://genius.com/Isaiah-rashad-heav...

Subscribe to Genius: http://bit.ly/2cNV6nz
Genius on Twitter:   / genius  
Genius on Instagram:   / genius  
Genius on Facebook:   / geniusdotcom  
http://genius.com

#IsaiahRashad #HeavenlyFather #Verified