First one was
brandUn DeShay. Hard to follow that up. But maybe you'll see it fit once you watch this music video a lil' further down.
What other emcee you know that was actually born in Kenya, raised in London, Ontario, and got the most unnoticeable accent you've ever not heard?
I hate having to discover a guy from another blog, but that's how it happened. He was featured on
The Rap Up under a series called "
An MC I Care About Today". And after first listen, I cared about him, too.
"Cats say, 'you the illest.' I'm like, 'nah, B. Nah, B. Nah, B.'
Well, okay, prob'ly. But it's only cuz I rap like it's my hobby,
Not a jobby job, all sloppy and off key.
Y'all mad as march tryinna knock off the top seed."
I bought both of this dude's CDs off iTunes directly after I saw this music video for the first time. Shadrach Kabango, to me, is a poet laureate if there ever was one. His raps are so impeccably perfect that I literally cannot believe the bars that he puts together. There is not a single throw away lyric on either When This is Over or The Old Prince. They are undeniable classic albums to anyone who's ever heard either one. Unfortunately that's not enough people.
"His wife was still beside him under the blanket enclosed.
When he looked up at the clock, he saw the hands and it froze,
So the man just arose, put his hands to the roads,
And began to compose the most candid of prose."
So whether you're looking for punch line after punch line rolled off with perfect delivery or the most heart-pounding, picture-painting stories ever, Shad's got 'em. Throw in there a song where he hilariously argues with a white guy over both races in the NBA ("Real Game"), an in-depth story of a fallen musician personifying the entire music ("I Heard You Heard You Had a Voice Like an Angel"), a straight out lyrical rhythm jam session ("Rock to It"), an I-still-live-with-my-mom shame confessional ("The Old Prince Still Lives at Home"), and even a doctoral thesis on women ("Out of Love" & "Out of Love, Pt. 2"). No other emcee I've ever heard hits as many real people topics without ever becoming redundant or uninteresting. Dude is that dude.
"I'll never understand how flesh bein' torn apart feels.
Or how, after all the suffering, a heart heals.
On the rich screen, fields where they killed old and young.
Cold and numb, under the light of a golden sun.
It still stuns. Tell me what possesses man to, in anger, raise his hand?
I'll never understand."
Buy his albums so you can understand and enjoy life a little better. It's for your own good. Revolutionize what you're brain allows rappers to be. I hate to say it, but Canada's got one of the best rap scenes out there right now with Shad, k-os, Drake, and Famous. Still don't enjoy Kardinal in the slightest besides whoever is on his choruses, but Shad K makes up for his sell-out shortcomings ten-fold.
Read any of the lyrics I posted aloud and tell me they don't simply feel good. I don't care if it's just wordplay or social commentary, Shad puts the right words together in a way I can't compare anyone else to. Ever. For real. This is the only song I can give you cuz all of mine are flippin' iTunes protected.
... this was whatcha all been waitin' for ain't it?
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