SHAD

The Old Prince

“The biggest thing to come out of Canada since Pamela’s double D’s!”  Although the hilarity of this punch line might be first to draw your attention, it should not serve to overshadow the claim made by the emcee that spit it. Shadrach Kabango, also known as Shad K, or increasingly these days as just plain Shad, has at the very least, made his presence well known in the Canadian hip hop scene over the last year and half. Since the initial quiet release of his “When This Is Over” album in 2005, Shad has steadily grown as an artist and a performer to the point where some critics in the Canadian music industry have directly called him out as one of the bright spots and true emerging talents in Canadian hip hop. CBC Radio 3 recently went as far as to say that “2007 is the year of Shad”. Whether that will be the case remains to be seen, but since exceeding everyone’s initial expectations, including his own, Shad has good reason to be confident in his future projects. And suffice to say, fans have alot more of his trademark sound to look forward to hearing in the coming months, and likely years ahead. Because as judging by his incessant, longlasting freestyles at the drop of a hat, a unique charm that comes across on his tracks and even more so on stage, and a passion thats matched by his supporting team, Shad truly does seem to have all the ingredients to become the break out hip hop artist this country sorely needs at the moment.

 

For someone that has attracted so much attention and praise from listeners the country over, there is an irony in Shad’s success. Unlike so many other hip hop artists making boastful claims of status and stature, Shad is one of the most modest personas in the game.  It is in fact this modesty, along with a heavy arsenal of quickly delivered and equally quick witted rhyme schemes that has garnered him so much respect both within Canada’s hip hop community and to a consistently growing cross over fan base. And it is a modesty, that no matter what happens or how many shows he plays, remains with him, as evident from the following journal entry Shad wrote for us the day after we followed him around as he was getting ready to open for Lupe Fiasco.