Canadian Spitfire: Cadence Weapon
By Frank on April 12, 2009 in library
Ask most people what they think when they think “Canadian music,” and they'll probably think of mainstream pop-punk (Avril Lavigne, Sum 41) or indie-pop (New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene) hailing from Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver. Cadence Weapon and his 2005 debut Breaking Kayfabe represent none of that.
Born with the name of Rollie Pemberton, he's a fire-spitting MC/DJ/producer from Edmonton who uses cultural references and non sequiturs over dense, video-game inspired beats to create some hard-hitting hip-hop. Lines like “All in all, success for you is not at all probable / when I take you to the lake to find if you're water soluble” and “As far as wrong plans go, they're a bigger public enemy / than Flavor Flav working for Monsanto” sum up his style nicely. The tracks also manage to accomplish the difficult task of being rocking and fun to listen to without being devoid of significant content. “Oliver Square” is something of an ode to the struggling indie musician, and “30 Seconds” offers up some well-thought-out anxiety about capitalism and consumerism, each over his powerful, almost abrasive beats.
While a quick Internet search will get you several “similar artists” (including MF Doom and El-P, comparisons that seem apt, and Cool Kids, which makes no sense to me), Breaking Kayfabe doesn't really sound like much else—it's just a highly original and entertaining hip-hop record from an unappreciated MC.
Cadence Weapon - Sharks
Cadence Weapon - Lisa's Spider
Cadence Weapon - 30 Seconds
Cadence Weapon - Oliver Square
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did u know rapper caddence weapon was once a writer on your favorite mpl blog pitchfork media?