The Strange Case of Shad, the Positive Political Canadian Rapper

by Paul Hiebert

If rapping is for bad boys, Shad has little business being in the field. The Kenyan-born, Canada-raised hip-hop artist with a positive attitude has been nominated for multiple prestigious awards, and was even deemed the #1 rapper in Canada by the still rather-conservative National Post — and that wasn’t in, like, 2008 or anything, but just last week. On Shad’s third album, “TSOL,” released this spring, his lyrics address everything from how the same thing that floats your boat can also capsize it, to the time his sister taught him how to parallel park, to why rapping about rapping isn’t that interesting. Shad is performing tonight at the Highline Ballroom.K-os will also be there.

Why do so many rappers rap about rap?
I think it’s just a common theme. It becomes hardwired in your mind. It’s just part of the music.

Why does negativity sell more records than positivity when it comes to rap?
In Canada, that’s not really the case. K-os probably sells more records than any other rapper in Canada.

You’ve been touring across America with k-os for a month now. Have you noticed any differences between Canadian and American audiences?
A lot of the crowds have been surprisingly similar. Since we’re both Canadian, I think we end up drawing a similar kind of audience. That’s been the most interesting thing to me.

Why do you think there are so few female rappers?
I think rap’s inherently kind of macho. So that might be part of it. I can see that changing. Hip-hop is always changing.

Are you trying to make that change?
I don’t really try to change an entire genre. I just try to do what it is I do. If that in turn affects our culture — then that’s cool. But I definitely don’t start out with any ideas about changing a genre. I’m just trying to make music that makes sense to me.

I hear you like Roxette.
Oh yeah, for sure. They remind me of being a kid and hearing their songs on the radio.

You’re also earning a master’s degree in Liberal Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. What’s that about?
The whole program revolves around literature and philosophy and their relationship to passion and reason. It’s always inspiring when you get to take in a great work, or study someone who has committed themselves to creating something special or to advancing a new or positive idea. It’s more out of interest and fun. It’s obviously not the most important degree.

You make a lot of pop-culture references in your music.
It makes it more like a conversation, like when you’re talking to your friends and you might make a comment about the Monday Night Football game or whatever. So I think it brings it to a human level, where you’re just interacting on a shared experience, a shared environment and that sort of thing.

Any thoughts on Chris Bosh leaving the Toronto Raptors to join Lebron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami?
I’m not surprised he left. He’d be a great second piece, and he’s an even better third piece. I don’t think you can be too mad at him for leaving. My only problem with this topic is that I think it’s kind of boring.

Paul Hiebert is a writer in New York.