Shad
TSOL
Black Box Recordings : 2010

86

Posted on 09/30/2010
It’s hard to come by a balanced hip-hop album these days with the right amount of humor, wit, musical variety, production, and of course, lyricism. Often times rappers will attempt to include too much of these factors into one body of work at the expense of minimizing their true artistic strengths. In other words, some recording artists simply try to do “too much.”

Canadian hip-hop artist, Shad, on the other hand, fully understands what he does best and isn’t afraid to stick with it. Through his seamless ability to intertwine clever punch lines into his relatively serious subject matter, Shad is able to effectively educate his audience while always keeping them entertained at the same time. His casual flow, fine confidence and creative energy easily makes him an MC hard to forget.

While Wheelchair Jimmy put Canadian hip-hop on the mainstream map, 28-year-old Shadrach Kabango has been holding down the indie Canadian hip-hop scene since his 2005 debut When This Is Over. Half a decade later, TSOL (acronym for True Sounds of Liberty) is the long-awaited follow-up to his hailed sophomore LP The Old Prince. A true hip-hop purist, Shad delivers 40-minutes worth of quality rap music that is easy on the ears, yet engaging on the mind. Most of the songs on TSOL can be characterized as animated and upbeat, but don’t let the enthusiastic tone of the album shed you away from its important lyrical content.

One of TSOL’s standouts is the admirably mellow “Telephone,” where Shad explores the constant failure in communication with a livid girlfriend over scratched up vocal samples – a feature Shad sprinkles all throughout the album. The female content continues on the overtly uplifting “Keep Shining,” as Shad advocates directly to women for a greater representation of females in hip-hop (“So we don’t hear about your brain, just your brains/How you rock a fella, Stacey Dash, Dames”). Aside from the abundance of lighthearted tracks, Shad assertively shows he can spit over down tempo melodies as well. In the melancholy “At the Same Time,” backed by only a steady electric guitar and keyboard, Shad contemplates over a difference of emotions in regards to the state of mankind. Shad may be considered an MC the everyday person can relate to, but his intentions as an artist go beyond everyday circumstances. In “A Good Name,” Shad pronounces that he “represents more than his rap.” We just have to listen.

-Jordan Hung

via okayplayer