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NXNE Q&A: Shad

Shadrach Kabango – better known as Shad – is a proving to be quite a force in Canadian hip-hop. The rapper was born in Kenya, but raised in London, ON. He holds a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in one hand, and the 2011 Juno Award for best rap recording for his album TSOL in the other. In short, if a rapper stereotype still exists, he destroys it.

Shad has been compared to Common and k-os, and although he may fit into a community of rappers who eschew so-called gratuitious rap for a more socially-conscious or down-to-earth vibe, Shad is three albums in and has a sound all his own. His lyrics are dense and witty and he delivers them with intricate beats. We caught up with Shad at home to talk music and how it feels to perform his hit record a year after its release. A: I feel good about it. It was definitely – it was like a different sort of album and, like, a different sort of phase in my carreer. It was the first album I ever made where it was like, okay, music is what I do now for a living. So it kind of made for a different approach. It was less like I’m 20 and bored and angsty and, you know, feel like writing and making music; it was more like, you know, I’m really grateful for this opportunity to get to do something that I love and, like, how can I make the most of it and make something that’s fun and worth listening to. So yeah, it was cool to have a project that was really sort of different like that, in terms of approach, and have it go well. And people sort of took to it and stuff. So yeah, no complaints at all.

Q: And you still have fun performing it? A: A lot smaller than Toronto, that’s for sure. But it’s cool. It’s got a little bit of its own vibe, but yeah, the shows here are great and they’re always well attended, so I feel like the fan base is definitely there and there’s a bit of a local scene as far as artists go. It’s not what’s going on in Toronto, but the support is there and it’s something.