Shad on being Black, average, respected
OTTAWA — Though he raps about being ordinary, Shad is anything but average.
The 39-year-old Juno-winning rapper, broadcaster and video star (born Shadrach Kabango) is one of the smartest and most engaging hip-hop artists in the country, as you can hear in the catchy beats and quick-witted rhymes of his latest album, TAO.
Widely considered one of the best Canadian releases of 2021, TAO finds Shad reflecting on connection and humanity, but with a fresh, playful style that also makes it a fun listen.
He talks about that approach in this interview, which has been edited for length, as well as the concept behind the single, Black Averageness, and what it’s like to be back on the road touring after the pandemic-related shutdowns.
Q: You’re back on the road for a coast-to-coast tour. How does it feel?
A: It’s my first proper tour in three years so it just feels good to get back to what I consider the real thing, what I wanted to do when I started, which is play for the community around my music.
Q: How was your pandemic experience?
A: It was OK. I have two small kids, so there was a lot of family time, which was the upside. The other upside I always say is, when you work in music, there’s a level of chaos and unpredictability that you’re kind of always used to and expecting, so I feel we might have been a bit more prepared than most, but, of course, our whole industry was more or less shut down for a couple of years.
Q: Plus, you released a new album, the most excellent TAO.
A: Yeah, thanks. In 2020, I pretty much planned on working on new music and finishing an album. I do love writing songs, but working on recording music is hard and, of course, this new online-heavy atmosphere of posting and promotion is also a bit of a grind. I didn’t plan on being on the road much that year, but I found I missed that part. The live experience is fun and it makes sense. Those little moments remind me of what I’m doing and why.
Q: Let’s talk about songwriting. You actually wrote most of it before the pandemic. What did you set out to express?
A: Interestingly enough, I was thinking about connection, about wholeness and connection to the different aspects of our lives. For example, our relationship to other human beings, to nature, to work, our relationship to some sense of the transcendent and I was thinking about how all of them are kind of under threat, from the precarity of work to the precarity of the environment and what’s happening in terms of trust breaking down. I was already thinking a lot about that stuff and, suddenly, with the pandemic, there was this whole new dimension of losing touch that was introduced.
Q: All of those things certainly became more relevant during lockdown. Did you have to rewrite anything?
A: No. To me, that’s part of the magic and mystery of putting stuff out into the world. It changes as the world changes and people change, so I kinda like to just keep it what it is and let it mean what it means.
Q: You tackle some heavy topics and yet it’s a fun, engaging record. Was that important?
A: Yeah, very important. At the end of the day, what I enjoy about connecting through music is making people feel better and injecting some kind of excitement and fun and surprise into people’s lives if I can. There are things weighing on me that I want to say and I want to think through and I want to unpack, but, at the same time, I love doing it while delivering a bit of a spark.
Q: The song Black Averageness is a good example. What inspired it?
A: The thought occurred to me one day when I was thinking about this concept of Black excellence that’s often discussed — what about Black averageness? It struck me as funny, but also there’s a point because freedom to me is really the freedom to be yourself, which for the most part is average. We shouldn’t have to be exceptional just to get respect. We should be able to be respected and enjoy a level of dignity and security just as
human beings.
Q: The song was good to hear during this reckoning on racism we’ve seen in the past couple of years, since the murder of George Floyd. How did you view that conversation?
A: That was a moment like nothing I’ve ever lived through in my life, in terms of how society in general really got thinking about racism and the legacy of racism and colonialism and slavery and how this stuff still plays out. That’s something I’d never really experienced in my life. It was a little trippy watching it unfold online, but ultimately encouraging.
Q: Do you see things improving for Black and other racialized people?
A: For me, it’s really about the material conditions. I’d have to dig into the statistics. Has life improved for Black people? In a couple of years, probably doubtful. But I do think at the same time that the general acknowledgement of this reality that’s been, I think, hiding in plain sight for a lot of people for a long time, that is definitely the beginning of a lot of progress.
Q: To get back to the tour, you’re playing as part of a trio and travelling from St. John’s, Newfoundland (and Labrador), to Victoria, B.C. Was it important to cover the whole country?
A: Yeah. I love these shows. This feels like the real thing to me. It’s really connecting with the community around my music, wherever they happen to be, so I wanted to play as many spots as possible.