New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Toronto-based rapper Shad will return as the host of Netflix's 'Hip-Hop Evolution,' the Peabody and Emmy award-winning series that explores the history of hip-hop through interviews with its pioneers. Season 2 of the series will be released on October 19, and season 1 is currently available online.
Today Shad has also unveiled his explosive third single "The Stone Throwers (Gone in a Blink)" from his ambitious hip hop saga A Short Story About A War (October 26 via Secret City Records). The song shows Shad taking on the role as one of the album's characters, making for a sound unlike anything else in his catalogue. He's shown flexing his lyrical dexterity over a hypnotic, infectious trap beat, as his character cuttingly tackles themes like economics, criminal justice, and beyond, set in a dystopian society that mirrors our own world. Just as the track nears its close, a distorted, below-baritone voice laments, "vilified by all sides, vilified for small crimes, forced to go blow for blow in a war zone with only stones to throw." Shad explains that this is a metaphor for society's own power dynamic.
"The powerless in our world are often forced to resort to especially ugly kinds of violence for which they are vilified, while the powerful actually do much more harm to people and the planet with the more sophisticated 'weapons' of money and influence," Shad says.
A Short Story About A War is a wildly innovative and carefully thought-out concept album that never once sacrifices intellect for sound, as Shad bounces effortlessly from hip-hop, jazz, and funk, all while telling a cryptically realistic tale of sociopolitics in a world covered in desert. The list of collaborators includes Kaytranada, 2oolman of A Tribe Called Red, Lido Pimienta, Yukon Blonde, Ian Kamau, Eternia, DJ T Lo, and more.
Shad recently unveiled "The Fool Pt. 3 (Frame Of Mind)," his collaboration with producer Kaytranada, showcasing the illustrious beatmakers' penchant for hypnotic rhythms. Noisey called the album "the kind of challenging record we deserve...Shad is going for a Romantic-era level epic."
Shad will be backing the upcoming album with a nationwide tour that spans all of November and December, and includes dates at NYC's Knitting Factory (Nov 15) and LA's Moroccan Lounge (Dec 8).
In addition to hosting Netflix's Hip-Hop Evolution, Shad has been short-listed for the Polaris
Music Prize for 3 of his full length records, as well as a JUNO Award win for rap album of the year in 2011. He is also a former host of CBC Radio's flagship arts & culture program 'q'.
TRACK LIST:
1. Intro: Sniper
2. The Revolution/The Establishment
3. The Stone Throwers (Gone in a Blink)
4. Get it Got it Good Intro
5. The Fool Pt. 1 (Get it Got it Good)
6. Magic Intro
7. Magic (feat. Lido Pimienta)
8. The Fool Pt. 2 (Water) (feat. Steven Mulcare)
9.
Sniper Interlude
10. Peace/War
11. The Fool Pt. 3 (Frame of Mind)
12. Another Year (feat. Ian Kamau & Eternia)
13. All I Need (feat. Yukon Blonde)
TOUR DATES:
November 1 - Waterloo, ON @ Starlite
November 2 - London, ON @ Rum Runners
November 9 - St. Catharines, ON @ FirstOntario PAC
November 10 - Hamilton, ON @ Casbah
November 15 - New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
November 16 - Washington, DC @ DC9
November 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Boot and Saddle
November 22 - Ottawa, ON @ 27 Club
November 23 - Montreal, QC @ Le Ministére
November 24 - Quebec City, QC @ L'Anti
December 4 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
December 5- Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
December 7 - San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord
December 8 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan
December 14 - Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall, SOLD OUT
December 15 - Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
