Shad

now playing: Shad - Wild

Shadrach Kabango, aka Shad is a Canadian hip-hop artist. Born in Kenya 1982, raised up in London, Ontario, Shad released his self-made debut When This Is Over in 2005. Before that he had participated 91.5 FM’s (London, ON) annual Rhythm of the Future unsigned talent competition and, winning the first prize, he put the $17,500 on recording the album while continuing his studies at Wilfrid Laurier University.

When This Is Over album cover

When This Is Over was critically acclaimed and got respect especially for the lyrics. Some of the tracks are about the typical but most are not. For example, he uses his mother Bernadette Kabango's poetry when rapping about the Rwandan genocide in I'll Never Understand. After the release, he sold out shows around Canada and got to warm up superstars like Common and Lupe Fiasco.

In 2007, he was signed by Black Box Recordings and he released his second album The Old Prince. The album was an immediate success. It has been referred to as one of the strongest Canadian hip-hop albums ever (Vish Khanna, Exclaim! Magazine), it received a Juno award in 2008 for Rap Recording of the Year, was nominated for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize and it was nominated for two MuchMusic Video Awards.

Shad's third album, TSOL, was released in 2010 and it, too, received the Polaris Music Prize and the Juno award for Rap Recording of the Year.

The Old Prince album cover

TSOL album cover

With these three albums Shad has taken a well deserved place in the top rank. His flow is getting better with every word, although it was pretty ridiculous to begin with. The beats, oh lord the beats, are sick, his lyrics are smarter, more meaningful and layered than you could at first imagine. It feels like he had been on the game for years and years, even though the truth is quite the opposite. Like many other bloggers, I too think that When This Is Over is one of the best debut albums and things get only better after that.

To listen to Shad's music before buying the albums (oh yes, I know you will buy them, unless you're deaf) you can go to his website. He has a list of his official music videos on youtube and all the necessary links to find where you can purchase his auditory gold.