K-Os + Dragonette. Welcome to Red Bull Soundclash. Less a competition, more a creative collaboration, this once-in-a-lifetime concert will feature K-Os and Dragonette in a musical conversation. Each artist will perform through different musical challenges while on opposite stages, and all to a single audience. And where better to drop this sonic experiment, then in the middle of the Stampede.

As each artist lets it rip, two divergent styles and genres clash over the heads of the crowd. The sharpest tongue, the heaviest riffs and the hottest beats rule. Red Bull Soundclash’s unique blend of innovation and tradition provides the backdrop to the music, while the symbiotic clashing of talents take center stage. The ultimate aim of the event is not to win, but rather to have both artists exchange musical ideas, enabling a good time by all.

Go to MuchMusic too check out the interviews of the MMVA nominees and their music video directors for 2011 MMVAs: The Preview – MuchVibe Hip Hop Video of the Year.

Shad talks about what it’s like seeing himself on the cover of Exclaim! magazine. Following that is Shad performing a verse from “Rose Garden” and being accompanied by Broken Social Scene’s Lisa Lobsinger.

And the Juno Goes to… from Mark Valino on Vimeo.

Shad talks what happened when he won the Juno and getting recognized being an independent artist in Canada.

Via 1LoveTO

Maestro – Praise Da Lord ft. Shad

Names: K-OS and Mike
From: Toronto
Wearing: K-OS: Vintage poncho, Ray-Bans; Mike: Rustler jacket, Levi’s, COAL beanie
Style inspiration: Clint Eastwood

“Shad. Shadrach Kabango. I grew up in London Ontario.” — UGSMag.com

“My family’s from Rwanda originally. I was born in Kenya and my sister was born in Uganda. We moved to Canada when my sister and I were young. I would say that kind of influenced my upbringing. You maybe look at things a little bit more critically. You have a little bit maybe of a broader world view. We’re coming up in kind of two different cultures so it kind of broadens your world view a little bit. Some political issues, some social issues maybe become a little bit more important to you. I think that’s how it’s influenced my music.” — MindYourMind.ca

“I didn’t know Rakim, Big Daddy Kane growing up. I knew Maestro [Fresh Wes] and Maestro, he’s the dude. And not just “[Let Your Backbone Slide],” “Drop The Needle,” but you know, “Conducting Things,” “Nothing At All,” — you know, just on and on. He always came with it. So many different styles and a great range in his catalog of songs.” — HipHopSummit Profile/TheMaddBloggers

“When I was younger, we had a lot of Canadian Hip-Hoppers on TV. For me, when I was 11 or 12 years old, Maestro [Fresh Wes] video would play beside a Gangstarr video. It was just all of what we had. When I was really younger it was Maestro, Dream Warriors. When I was around 16 [years old], there was an era with like Saukrates, Choclair — all those guys were killing it.” — HipHopCanada, TheEarlyRisers
Read the rest of Shad, In His Own Words at Brooklyn Bodega

SHAD: Your Everything Man from hueTV on Vimeo.

Whether we like it or not, in the state it’s in, Hip Hop as a whole is a genre chock-full of labels. I’m not talking about the mobs of artists trying to start up their own record labels, I mean the labels defining rappers as rappers. You can fall into a number of categories – Gangster Rap, Conscious Rap, Boom Bap Rap, West Coast Rap, East Coast Rap, Underground Rap, Pop Rap whatever, whatever, whatever. But with the thousands of aspiring rappers wrestling it out in the industry just trying to get noticed, let alone jack that number 1 spot, it seems that only GOOD rap is being permitted entrance into the ring.

Shadrach Kabango is one of those good rappers who creates good music and he’s absolutely good with that. In this day and age, fans have an extremely short attention span and usually allow rappers a very tiny window to deliver a great hook, line and sinker – pun intended. Playing the field with Canadian roots puts him immediately against the odds but that doesn’t seem to bother him. He quite likes it up north, in fact he moved out to Vancouver just a couple years ago to record much of his 2010 album, T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), of which he beat out a dude named Aubrey “Drake”
Graham to earn Rap Recording of the Year at the 2011 Junos. Living and touring a lot throughout Canada you’d think his fan base would be strictly regional but his last couple LPs continue to garner him a following that blurs hip hop lines.

Read the rest of SHAD: Your Everything Man at The Hue

The National Parks Project Soundtrack is available for purchase on iTunes

The National Parks Project is a sweeping multimedia project combining film, television, music, and interactive elements to create a stunning look at some of the most inspiring park lands of Canada.

A collaboration between fifty-two of Canada’s musicians and filmmakers and thirteen of its stunning natural settings, thirteen short films were made between May and October of 2010 out of improvised musical compositions that were captured and transformed into a feature film, a TV documentary series, and of course, a soundtrack album.

via aux.tv

Here is the second video of the mini-series of three by Exclaim!. Shad raps his new verse for Lush Life a capella.