As hinted at earlier this week, Canadian rapper Shad has announced plans for his latest album. Titled A Short Story About a War, the new full-length is due out October 26 via Secret City Records.
It marks the follow-up to 2013's Flying Colours, though Shad also released Adult Contempt under the moniker Your Boy Tony Braxton in 2016.
The forthcoming full-length details a fictional world afflicted by war, told through the perspective of one character who doesn't believe in the power of bullets.
That character is the Fool, and we get introduced to him in a brand new song and video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)."
It was directed by Justin Broadbent, who released the following statement about the clip:
The video is a lo-fi, 1-take shot of Shad performing on a bright and sunny stage of wooden pallets and blooming white flowers in a decrepit parking lot. This is a throwback to early Shad videos like "Rose Garden" and "Yeah I Get It," shot lo-fi in alleyways and train tracks. But also this is The Fool's ideal music video.
The Fool is a central character on Shad's upcoming album, a concept record set in a fictional war zone. And in this world falling apart, he's "art directed" the "cool" surroundings — a parking lot, flowering tree, pallets, eagle statue, and his own car. The video is purposefully shot hand-held on a phone (literally reflected in the car window) to convey the character's playfulness, and also to reign in on Shad's number one attribute, his authenticity. The style can not be passed off as cocky or bougie — it's just Shad, "no add-ons or code names." The video ends with The Fool ecstatically tossing his hat to the ground in a bow, as a jet fighter flies over head causing the terrified cameraman to run into hiding. The ending is ambiguous, but leaves us with one important question, the message of the album, "What are you afraid of?"
Watch the video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)" below, where you'll also find a series of upcoming tour dates.
A Short Story About a War also touches on themes of "migration, environment, economics, politics, and most critically, the deepest parts of our spirit."
It hears Shad enlisting a wide array of collaborators, including Kaytranada, 2oolman of A Tribe Called Red, Lido Pimienta, Yukon Blonde, Ian Kamau, Eternia, and Shad's turntable mainstay, DJ T Lo.
Check out the first tease below with the video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)."
A Short Story About a War:
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 (ft. Lido Pimienta)
8. The Fool Pt. 2 (Water) (ft. Steven Mulcare)
9. Sniper Interlude
10. Peace/War
11. The Fool Pt. 3 (Frame of Mind)
12. Another Year (ft. Ian Kamau & Eternia)
13. All I Need (ft. Yukon Blonde)
Tour dates:
11/01 Waterloo, ON - Starlite
11/02 London, ON - Rum Runners
11/09 St. Catharines, ON - FirstOntario PAC
11/10 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
11/15 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
11/16 Washington, DC - DC9
11/17 Philadelphia, PA - Boot and Saddle
11/22 Ottawa, ON - 27 Club
11/23 Montreal, QC - Le Ministère
11/24 Quebec City, QC - L'Anti
12/04 Seattle, WA - Barboza
12/05 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
12/07 San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord
12/08 Los Angeles, CA - Moroccan
12/14 Toronto, ON - The Great Hall
It marks the follow-up to 2013's Flying Colours, though Shad also released Adult Contempt under the moniker Your Boy Tony Braxton in 2016.
The forthcoming full-length details a fictional world afflicted by war, told through the perspective of one character who doesn't believe in the power of bullets.
That character is the Fool, and we get introduced to him in a brand new song and video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)."
It was directed by Justin Broadbent, who released the following statement about the clip:
The video is a lo-fi, 1-take shot of Shad performing on a bright and sunny stage of wooden pallets and blooming white flowers in a decrepit parking lot. This is a throwback to early Shad videos like "Rose Garden" and "Yeah I Get It," shot lo-fi in alleyways and train tracks. But also this is The Fool's ideal music video.
The Fool is a central character on Shad's upcoming album, a concept record set in a fictional war zone. And in this world falling apart, he's "art directed" the "cool" surroundings — a parking lot, flowering tree, pallets, eagle statue, and his own car. The video is purposefully shot hand-held on a phone (literally reflected in the car window) to convey the character's playfulness, and also to reign in on Shad's number one attribute, his authenticity. The style can not be passed off as cocky or bougie — it's just Shad, "no add-ons or code names." The video ends with The Fool ecstatically tossing his hat to the ground in a bow, as a jet fighter flies over head causing the terrified cameraman to run into hiding. The ending is ambiguous, but leaves us with one important question, the message of the album, "What are you afraid of?"
Watch the video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)" below, where you'll also find a series of upcoming tour dates.
A Short Story About a War also touches on themes of "migration, environment, economics, politics, and most critically, the deepest parts of our spirit."
It hears Shad enlisting a wide array of collaborators, including Kaytranada, 2oolman of A Tribe Called Red, Lido Pimienta, Yukon Blonde, Ian Kamau, Eternia, and Shad's turntable mainstay, DJ T Lo.
Check out the first tease below with the video for "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)."
A Short Story About a War:
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 (ft. Lido Pimienta)
8. The Fool Pt. 2 (Water) (ft. Steven Mulcare)
9. Sniper Interlude
10. Peace/War
11. The Fool Pt. 3 (Frame of Mind)
12. Another Year (ft. Ian Kamau & Eternia)
13. All I Need (ft. Yukon Blonde)
Tour dates:
11/01 Waterloo, ON - Starlite
11/02 London, ON - Rum Runners
11/09 St. Catharines, ON - FirstOntario PAC
11/10 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
11/15 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
11/16 Washington, DC - DC9
11/17 Philadelphia, PA - Boot and Saddle
11/22 Ottawa, ON - 27 Club
11/23 Montreal, QC - Le Ministère
11/24 Quebec City, QC - L'Anti
12/04 Seattle, WA - Barboza
12/05 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
12/07 San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord
12/08 Los Angeles, CA - Moroccan
12/14 Toronto, ON - The Great Hall
