R&B Singer Isaiah Falls Is on a Mission to Become Florida’s New Voice

It’s 11:45 p.m. on a Wednesday night, and Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right is alive with energy. Despite the late hour, the youthful exuberance of the twenty-something couple standing next to me is contagious as they daringly risk their eight hours of slumber to party with rising R&B star Isaiah Falls. This shared energy is enough to galvanize anyone in attendance, regardless of age.

For the venerated venue that once hosted SZA and Billie Eilish during their early days, Falls’ fire and desire prove to be worth the late-night stay, as he and The Avengers — his Luxury Lane crew — charm the crowd, courtesy of his 24-minute masterwork, Drugs and Lullabies.

“Technically, it’s an EP because an EP is anything under 28 minutes,” says Falls earlier in the day, explaining why the project isn’t an album. “Don’t get me wrong, it feels like an album, but it’s not.”

Falls’ rise in 2024 began when he crafted his single “Florida Baby,” an ode to all the bodacious women representing his home state. Sitting pretty at 17 million streams on Spotify, “Florida Baby” became a staple for The Sunshine State and the driving force behind the singer’s first-ever headlining tour.

“Drake had The 6, Kendrick had Compton in LA, these people that popped off always had the city behind them. I think that’s impact,” says Falls. “Cash Cobain has New York behind him right now. I understood that I needed to get the attention of where I was before I took over the world.”

Drugs & Lullabies is a 12-track groove oozing with syrupy melodies and sleek hooks. It thrives off Falls’ precocious songwriting and Luxury Lane’s glossy production. With traces of PARTYNEXTDOOR and Justin Timberlake seeping through the project, Falls’ R&B-tinged effort has signature wins, including “Honey” and “Candy.”

“My team and I call it my Section 80, but we wanted to keep it short and simple,” he says. “Straight to the point — because when it’s time for the album, as a businessman, they’re gonna have to auction that b–ch. I’m not gonna lie.”

Billboard spoke to Falls about his musical family, leaning into Justin Timberlake when making his new EP, the making of “Florida Baby” and more.

You come from a musical family where your parents were in a band. Talk about that. 

It was beautiful. I grew up with my parents being in a band. My dad’s a drummer, my mom’s a singer, my sister sings a little bit, but she doesn’t really do it too much. The whole household was very musical and their music taste was very different. Growing up in that, whatever they were listening to, I was trying to find something else. They were listening to gospel, Mike [Jackson], and mad people like Charlie Wilson, Prince, Earth, Wind and Fire, all those cats. Me, growing up, I started listening to Jay-Z, Twista, Luda and Chris Brown. My sister put me on to a lot of music too, because we were very close. It was a very diverse household for music tastes. 

Then, my parents got into trying to be A&Rs when I was younger. They picked up some artists, because they weren’t as involved in the church like they used to be, so they decided to guide artists. They got artists signed, too. I would travel with them. I went to Nashville when I was like 11, because they went to go meet with Warner or something like that to get a group signed. It was all Christian music, by the way. They ended up getting cut loose by the main artist they were focused on, and that was very impactful, so they kinda let go of A&R and life lifed and they went separate ways. I picked up music very early, very early. 

How did that conversation with your parents go when you had that self-discovery of wanting to become an artist?

I feel like I was in a very unique scenario because I didn’t necessarily need to have the conversation with both my parents — because I was raised by my mother, for real. My mother understood that it was a journey, and everything that had to go into being an artist — but her being experienced, she guided me in a way where it was like, “You can do it, if you really do it.”

So I had support. She bought me my first laptop from the pawn shop. She worked as hard as she possibly could to get me anything possible that I needed to make music. I had a keyboard, a laptop [and] a cracked FL studios. She supported me anyway possible. Honestly, it was the biggest blessing, because it felt like there was no ceiling. 

You mention “your brothers” making music too in a past interview. Was it ever a competitive vibe between you guys?

Not really. So when I say “my brothers,” one was an artist that my parents were managing and he was just there all the time. He wasn’t a blood brother, but it felt like my brother. He was a rapper and he put me on to just recording. Like I remember specifically — one time I was recording, he told me to say “f–k.” I was like, “You sure?” and he was like, “Say it.” I said it and he brought my parents in. He was like, “Look. He’s really good at this sh-t.” Since that day, I was like, “I’mma do this for real.”

You mentioned having a strong love for hip-hop. Was the goal to be a rapper first?

100%. I think I always gravitated towards rap and the feeling that rap gave me, personally. I think that’s why even though I make R&B music, my music still knocks and hits in the car, because I still love that essence of rap. I still love Kodak. I still love Trick Daddy. I still love these people that still have that Florida essence to them, like Rick Ross. Their music still hits in the car. I love making smooth music for the women, but I also love the low-end of rap music. 

Because you come from Orlando, that’s not necessarily a stomping ground for R&B artists. Where did you seek inspiration from?

Man, there really wasn’t much. Early on in my life, my parents — since they were heavily in the church, there were gospel singers that they had their eye on and I loved their music growing up. Their music was so good. This guy named Alex Teamer, incredible singer — still connected with him to this day — his music was so soulful, and I feel like I grew up trying to learn the songs he was singing because my mom used to play it. So I grew up just singing that. Since he was from the city, it was dope to see him and how he produced too. He did it all. That’s definitely majority of where I got that inspiration from. And my mom used to always play Mike in the house. I learned how to sing falsetto by singing “Rock Your Body” [by Justin Timberlake, originally written for Michael Jackson].