Today, Toronto-based rapper, Cadence Weapon (aka Roland “Rollie” Pemberton), premieres My Crew (Woooo), on Zane Lowe’s Beats1 radio show. Following a steady beat and pulse, with Kaytranada at the production helm, the track is a futuristic trap banger chronicling Cadence’s experiences living in Montreal. Listen to the track here.
Through frenetic tongue-twisting verses that call out internet trolls and Camo pant-wearing cops, My Crew (Woooo) mirrors the energy of Montreal’s underground, after-hours party scene, complete with hedonistic imagery and shout-outs to his crew dwelling in the various neighborhoods of the city. Cadence describes the song as “an anthem about unapologetically being who you want to be, no matter what anybody else thinks.”
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“There’s a sense of personal freedom that’s unique to Montreal, and My Crew (Woooo) is a representation of that feeling,” says Cadence. “It’s a song about defying the labels that people try to place on artists. Is it underground? Mainstream? Conscious? Trap? Who cares, as long as it sounds dope.”
Recognized as Canada’s “most creative” rapper by the National Post, Cadence Weapon has consistently exhibited a passion for taking rap music to a new and unexpected direction. Born in Edmonton, Cadence had an upbringing uniquely suited to becoming a rapper. His father, Teddy, a Brooklyn native, was the DJ that introduced hip-hop to Edmonton with his pioneering radio show, The Black Experience in Sound, on CJSR 88.5 FM. After spending his childhood immersed in his father’s diverse archive of music, Cadence started rapping at age 13. Soon, he was entering freestyle battles, rocking shows with his uncle’s funk band and teaching himself how to make beats.
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Following the online success of his Cadence Weapon Is The Black Hand Mixtape, Cadence released his self-produced debut album, Breaking Kayfabe, in December 2005 at the age of 19. The album received international critical acclaim, with the BBC praising its mix of “vivid, scattershot rhymes” and “techno-tinged beats”. In 2009, Cadence was appointed Poet Laureate of Edmonton, making him the literary ambassador of his home city for two years, during which he was invited to read poetry for an event at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He followed up this literary stint with 2012’s Hope In Dirt City, an album produced by Cadence recording live instruments and sampling them for his beats. The album was his second to be shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.
Listen Now:
Cadence Weapon – Don’t Talk To Me
Impacting Radio: NOW!
Formats: HipHop
For Fans of Roots Manuva, Vince Staples, MF Doom, Dilla
Focus Tracks: My Crew (Woooooooo)
Quick Info: New crew anthem courtesy of Cadence Weapon (rhymes) and Kaytranada (beats), that mirrors the energy of Montreal’s after hours party scene. Canada, stand UP!
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