It would be understandable to assume that I only listen to music that’s at least 20 years old. If you flipped through my playlists, you might be surprised. I can’t argue that I have a soft spot for my old records, but I always get a buzz hearing new sounds or even old sounds served up in a new way. It’s easy to curse the kids for taking a bit of music that was dear to me and messing with it. Truth be told, I love that shit. It keeps music new and alive.
For a while, hip hop was giving me a belly ache from over-ingestion and a predictable diet. But once in a while, I’ll hear something that reminds of why I love hip hop in the first place. I’m not going to go on about beats or producers or lyrical content. I’m just some dude from the burbs. But here is something that you should listen to. It’s called Melancholy and the Infinite Shadness from Toronto MC Shad. You should listen to it for title alone. I really don’t know anything about Shad except that he is Canadian and he makes hip hop. Oxymoron? Perhaps, but it’s 2012. The internet has created its own reality and I can’t question how things become what they are these days. They just do. The track that first caught me was Out Here which samples The Breeder’s Cannonball. On other tracks, you’ll hear Milli Vanilli, Lenny Kravitz, Prince, and PM Dawn, but that’s not why should listen to these 5 tracks. Listen to them because they are fucking awesome. I’m going to shut up now.
UPDATE. I just found out who Shad is! By happenstance, I stumbled on the q on CBC Radio One’s Facebook page and I noticed a picture of the host, Shadrach Kabango. I’ve heard Shad on q a hundred times when listen to NPR in my car. I never put the two together. Shad became the host of q in 2015. High five, Shad!
