Influencial intellectual to host show
Shadrach Kabango, better known by his fans as Shad, is a home grown Canadian emcee. Raised in London, Ontario with a BBA from Wilfred Laurier University, Shad also holds a master’s degree from Simon Fraser University. Born in Kenya to Rwandan parents, he speaks on social and political issues in his four released albums. What really sets him apart is the humility that comes off both in his music and in person. Rappers are often known for being flashy, forward, and very self-confident. Shad has the confidence, minus the flash. Shad’s musical appeal is a rarity among the misogynistic, cuss-filled rap songs that have led to many a friend of mine turning up their nose upon a rap song suggestion. Major radio stations do the genre no justice when only playing songs that cover the topics of girls, booze, and cash. When comparing YouTube views of more popular rappers to underrated emcees, it’s possible to understand just how much change is needed in the genre. As an artist who describes himself as a dreamer, Shad helps fill the void that radio rap has been creating over the past decade.
If you’re musical tastes are more about lyricism and technique than sound or beat, rap is the genre in which I’ve found these qualities. Rap produces poetry and storytelling that helps, for example, others feel the struggle of a black male in America. Rap is the sort of genre that needs to be well-researched to find artists that you really want to support. I know, for most people, what their favourite musicians do outside the studio doesn’t impact their likability, as long as they keep producing tunes. I’m the type of person who needs to know that the artist she is supporting is someone who she would one day like to have a conversation with. I’ve stayed away from many an artist upon realizing that the message of their music or lifestyles just wasn’t for me. Shad has been one of the few constants who have stayed true to his boy-next-door appeal, and his new position at Q attests to his stability as an artist and as a person.
CBC had a list of 250 possible hosts, with Shad to start his new gig April 20 for the arts and culture show Q.
There undoubtedly will be challenges ahead for Shad, as he doesn’t have notable experience as an interviewer, though he does have over 10 years of experience of stage performances. He has also taken part in CBC’s Canada Reads, where he helped Carmen Aguirre‘s Something Fierce win the literary competition.
“Old Prince Still Lives at Home” is both a comical and relatable tune about the college students need to be “savin’ marvellously.” The song was written as “acknowledging peeps, that gotta track every dime usin’ columns and sheets.” This is what rap should continue to be. Shad is able to resonate with the average citizen with his storytelling skills. Shad continues his frugal ways by producing his own business cards and cutting his own hair.
With Kendrick Lamar recently having dropped a Spotify record-breaking album, Canadians need to start supporting our hip-hop and rap artists in the way that American rappers have been supported since the 80s. It’s difficult to find a Canadian version of Lowkey, A Tribe Called Quest, or Yasiin Bey, but I believe Shad has helped to fill that Canadian-conscious-rapper void in my iTunes library.
Putting Shad on one of Canada’s largest platforms gives me hope that those friends of mine from middle school will decide to give rap and hip-hop another go.