Cadence Weapon of Mass Destruction
By: Cheryl Stornelli
Mar. 2, 2009 – Edmonton, Canada
Breaking through the music industry's barriers of genre can make a climb to the top a lot more challenging. But every so often you stumble upon an artist who doesn't quite fit into one, two or even several genres. An artist who shies away from the norm, the typical, and from the repetitive. Mixing together electronic dance, hip hop, rap and a variety of styles from contributing artists, Cadence Weapon brings us Separation Anxiety – an album that touches on just about every genre within reach.
And in an effort to reach a wider audience, Cadence Weapon released the record as a pay-what-you-can album. "I wanted to release the music, but considering it's so different from what people would normally expect from me, I decided to give people the option. Also, I figured more people would actually give it a listen if they didn't necessarily have to pay for it," he says.
Fuelling the pay-what-you-can concept was not just a desire to reach more people, but for a desire to break away from the expectations of a "rapper". Feeling somewhat stereotyped into the genre, Cadence Weapon holds no punches in stepping out into uncharted territory, and he does so throughout the entire album.
The rap element that is evident in Cadence Weapon's music is undoubtedly his being able to tell a story and make an emotional impact using words. However, barriers – like low expectations of his musical aptitude because he doesn't play an instrument or read music – still remain.
"I feel like people look at me a certain way, like just because I'm a garbage man doesn't mean I don't like to do other things. Maybe I compact garbage and make sculptures out of it, you know? Being portrayed as a ‘Canadian rapper' instantly closes people off from the music, which is the whole point of this project anyway, hearing the music," he says. "People have a lack of understanding of the foundations of rap and preconceptions of what rap has to be. I wanted people to listen to the music without expectations."
Separation Anxiety is an open-ended compilation of random ideas, demos, remixes and collaborations. Released in-between Cadence Weapon's more personal, artist-based albums, the content wraps around his breakup with an ex-girlfriend and disillusionment. His previous full-length release, Afterparty Babies, consisted of mutant-dance rap using solely vocals on every track.
"I wanted to make something culturally relevant. Something undeniably important that shapes the world in a certain way. The ‘Sex with My Ex' remix was really important to me, because as soon as I heard the original by D.B. Buxton, I felt like I had a lot of words to add to this idea. It's something anyone can relate to," he explains.
Like many artists from any genre, Cadence Weapon's first steps in the music industry began with his parents' love for music. With a mom who sang and played piano and a dad who made waves as an influential funk and rap music DJ in the city of Edmonton, many of his initial musical ideas were formed around the house.
"Eventually I discovered things that spoke to me even more. I started out fooling around with raps on the Internet and started getting into playing shows through my uncle's funk band, Magilla Funk Conduit. From there, I taught myself to make beats and really refined my lyrics away from battle rap and it's been evolving ever since."
Luckily, Cadence Weapon's family understood the life of artists and the music industry when he made the decision to drop out of journalism school and move back home with his mom to pursue a music career.
"I started out spending most of my time getting drunk and bemoaning my general failure. At that point, I knew I was doing something interesting [in music] but never entertained any thoughts of people outside of my immediate family actually wanting to listen to it. I'm really glad I grinded so hard to get people's attention back then, the timing was perfect," he reflects.
Now, Cadence Weapon has a strong fan base that reaches further than his family, but he remains humble. "Most people just want to be my Facebook friend it seems. I think having people curious about my process and what I'm doing is cool. I'm actually kind of shy around people who actually like my music so I'm not exactly well-versed in this," he admits.
His current release is already well received and jam-packed with contributing musicians and experimental pieces. He's planning on exploring unrequited love, dishonest DJs, weight lifting, girls from Golden, B.C., and death through his next solo record, Roquentin.
"I sing a lot on it and there's feedback and screaming and guitar and other people's songs. I'm also doing a rap album with Subtitle called Fall Fashion; it's a hardcore rap album about wearing clothes."
Whether intended or not, Cadence Weapon is breaking down fences not only with other rappers, but for future Canadian rappers – kicking over barriers of the music industry with a pay-what-you-can attitude, and shoving through a saturated market of "ideal" musicians.
And whatever he's doing, it's working.
