It's only been a year since Cadence Weapon dropped Hope in Dirt City, but as the Canadian rapper tells Exclaim!, he's already excited about having started work on a follow-up.
"I'm in Montreal cooking up some new stuff," Roland Pemberton reveals in a recent interview. "I finally got a little bit of a break at the beginning of this year and I've been just going through a dope creative period. I've been writing some poetry as well, and I'm just rocking on that now."
However, Pemberton may be looking just as much backwards as he is forwards.
"The stuff I'm making now is super rap. It's very in-your-face rap music, hearkening back to my first album," he says, referring to Breaking Kayfabe, which was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. "The process of the last record was kind of confusing, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I'm just being more proactive about recording things when I have free time like this."
Citing Camp Lo's "Luchini AKA This Is It" as an example, Pemberton says he's trying to make songs that people can't help but lose their minds to. He calls it "response music," something that generates an immediate, visceral reaction. By his account, the whole idea is progressing along well.
"I have a big show in Edmonton on May 17 with Shout Out Out Out Out," he says. "That's the big hometown jam at Churchill Square. I'm going to stay there a few weeks after and continue working with some of my dudes out there. It's very exciting. I'm getting back to being freer with the process and it's been really fun."
Though on previous albums, Pemberton has been really set on concepts for songs, he says his new material is more loose and, for the most part, less conscious of tackling high-minded themes.
"I have a song that I've been working on that's about rapper chains," he reveals. "I say that like it's a dumb song about chains but it's actually an extended metaphor where, to the outside observer, it would sound like I'm just rapping about my chain [burst of laughing].
"It's just this absolutely banging bass track that also has this gospel, spiritual vibe. And I'm getting more into electronic sounds on it, but it's highly refined. Next summer, I want it blaring out of cars."
It's too early to tell when the next Cadence Weapon album will drop. For now, satiate your appetite with the video for "Hype Man" below, and check out all his upcoming shows here.
"I'm in Montreal cooking up some new stuff," Roland Pemberton reveals in a recent interview. "I finally got a little bit of a break at the beginning of this year and I've been just going through a dope creative period. I've been writing some poetry as well, and I'm just rocking on that now."
However, Pemberton may be looking just as much backwards as he is forwards.
"The stuff I'm making now is super rap. It's very in-your-face rap music, hearkening back to my first album," he says, referring to Breaking Kayfabe, which was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. "The process of the last record was kind of confusing, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I'm just being more proactive about recording things when I have free time like this."
Citing Camp Lo's "Luchini AKA This Is It" as an example, Pemberton says he's trying to make songs that people can't help but lose their minds to. He calls it "response music," something that generates an immediate, visceral reaction. By his account, the whole idea is progressing along well.
"I have a big show in Edmonton on May 17 with Shout Out Out Out Out," he says. "That's the big hometown jam at Churchill Square. I'm going to stay there a few weeks after and continue working with some of my dudes out there. It's very exciting. I'm getting back to being freer with the process and it's been really fun."
Though on previous albums, Pemberton has been really set on concepts for songs, he says his new material is more loose and, for the most part, less conscious of tackling high-minded themes.
"I have a song that I've been working on that's about rapper chains," he reveals. "I say that like it's a dumb song about chains but it's actually an extended metaphor where, to the outside observer, it would sound like I'm just rapping about my chain [burst of laughing].
"It's just this absolutely banging bass track that also has this gospel, spiritual vibe. And I'm getting more into electronic sounds on it, but it's highly refined. Next summer, I want it blaring out of cars."
It's too early to tell when the next Cadence Weapon album will drop. For now, satiate your appetite with the video for "Hype Man" below, and check out all his upcoming shows here.
