Allow yourself to dismiss the dope deals, big-booty broads and Jeezy jewelry and delve into a different dimension with Isang; an artist who isn’t afraid to travel the off beaten path. He’s not your typical rapper. You won’t hear him rap about moving bricks or what he has in the bank, but he’ll lyrically lure you into his atmosphere with honest hooks and well-crafted words.

Isang - photo by Ashley Bryant

“I don’t subscribe to that whole philosophy,” he said of the flashy mainstream rap culture. “[You] shouldn’t squander your life on meaningless pursuits.”

His name, Isang, means journey, and he began a trying journey early on in life. He was born with a virus in his digestive system; an illness he says kills most people who have it. He was in and out of the Children’s Hospital in D.C. so much that he practically had doctors for playmates. According to Isang, the nurses and doctors were his main outlets for the beginning years of his life and were able to teach him to talk and read by age 2. For Isang, this period of his life proved to be drastic, but added to his character.

“Statistically I shouldn’t be alive anyway,” he said. “It makes you honest.”

At 23, he is using every breath in his body to promote life, love and truth through his music. Like most hip-hop enthusiasts, Isang had a meager start. He grew up reciting lyrics at the playgrounds and at school—interchanging his name into the lines of his favorite rappers. From there, rap became an integral part of his being. He used rap for school projects. He used rap for talent shows. He rapped among his friends.

But rap really became his focus when he began joining in on rap sessions with high school kids while he was in middle school. “Maybe I can mess with this,” he said.

From the school ciphers and talent competitions, things moved quickly; Isang began doing shows and landed a deal. After recording 12 songs for his new label, the deal turned sour. “It’s not smart to try to achieve outside of your means too fast,” he acknowledged. He says he learned in about 10 months what takes most artists much longer to learn because of his hasty decisions.

Isang performing to a packed crowd at Sante Fe in College Park, MD, May 2008

Isang hasn’t given up his dream easily. He wrote, “Dreams are only dreams to people who are content to wake up and not try to do the things that they imagine” on his Facebook page.

He is back in the studio, and is creating a buzz for himself with the song “Just Like Go-Go,” which has held down the number one spot on DMV Unplugged’s top rated song list for weeks. The hook mixes a snippet from Young Jeezy’s “Circulate”: “They love me out in DC just like Go-Go, said go-go, yeah I said go-go,” and laces it with a hot beat. In the song, Isang introduces the city while shedding some light on the lack of unity in the DMV. He intends to make the Virginia in the acronym DMV more visible.

He was raised in D.C. and Northern Virginia, but feels alienated as a Virginian. Isang says artists from D.C. and Maryland are the main focus when it comes to the DMV. “I share a feeling of separation being from Northern VA,” he said. According to Isang, he further explores the idea of isolation as a Virginian in his cover of Wale’s “Chillin.” Despite this feeling of being an outcast, Isang says his message is universal and he wants to tap into markets outside of the DMV.

From the places he shops and won’t shop to the places where he hangs out to his lyrical content—Isang seeks to showcase his individuality. “The worst place you can be is a place where everybody is at,” said the rapper.

Isang at Pharrell's shop 'Commonwealth' in DC.

Isang’s favorite artists have one major commonality in their music: honesty. Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Lupe Fiasco, and Andre 3000 are some of his favorite artists, and he even credits Andre 3000 for inspiring his recent project, L.O.V.E.: Not_Found. According to Isang, the entire project is inspired by the last line in Andre 3000’s “Vibrate.”

The entire album explores the absence of love in some respect. “For the Lost” is a personal song about inadequacy and lack of self-love. Isang’s favorite track on the album is “Wildman 4000.” He said the song is futuristic and draws on raw tribal beats to explore the tumultuous relationship between self-love with slavery, civil rights and invisible racism.

The album is expected to be released at the end of October and will be available online for free download. Isang is always thinking in the future and about his next moves; he says his fans won’t ever be underfed because of his forward thinking mentality.

After L.O.V.E.: Not_Found debuts, Isang says he will be working on an exciting alternative project. He welcomes the opportunity to work with other talented DMV artists like Kevin Ross. He also has upcoming live shows in Northern Virginia, which will be further detailed on his blog.

Check out Isang:

http://isang1.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/isang1
http://www.myspace.com/isangmusic
http://www.facebook.com/IsangMusic