...And it Don't Stop

One thing that's always bothered me is the amount of hip-hop I listen to. I always felt that there was something I fundamentally didn't understand about rap, so I would go out of my way to listen to the rap that critics liked, in an effort to "get it" (Recently one of my hip-hop savvy friends has told me that the vast majority of rap does indeed suck, so I guess a lot of what I felt was valid, but still).

So that's why I always get moderately excited when I find a recent hip-hop act I can get behind, like the surly gentleman pictured above. 22 year-old Cadence Weapon (neé Roland Pemberton) is a former polaris prize nominee and hip-hop journalist for Stylus and Pitchfork. He tends to rap over glitchy, synth-driven beats that place him in a camp much departed from someone like Just Blaze or Timbaland.  

And as much as I can get down with some Three 6 Mafia or Trick Daddy, I must admit that Pemberton's arrhythmic flow is refreshing. When I say refreshing, I mean that if I were to drink his debut Breaking Kayfabe or its 2007 follow up Afterparty Babies, that I would go "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," and smile at the camera. That is what people do when they are refreshed. Like what you do when you are finished reading this blog. And what?

Cadence Weapon - In Search of the Youth Crew

Cadence Weapon - True Story