Cadence Weapon

Rapper, producer, poet, and journalist Rollie Pemberton, who records as Cadence Weapon, dismantles genre boundaries through his word-focused, dancefloor-oriented brand of hip-hop. When his first album, Breaking Kayfabe, reached stores in 2005, observers in the independent circuit hailed the arrival of a fresh talent who steered clear of the predictable patterns dominating commercial pop while also rejecting the withdrawn stance common among many underground MCs. His sharp verses, set against self-made synth-laden, electro-charged productions that pulled from IDM, house, indie rock, and additional sources, led several writers to call him the Canadian counterpart to British grime artist Dizzee Rascal. In 2009 he received the title of Poet Laureate of Edmonton. Among the artists he has worked with or toured alongside are Jacques Greene, Kaytranada, Japandroids, and Fat Tony. After a multi-year hiatus he issued a self-titled album in 2018 containing some of his most radio-friendly material, then followed with the drill-driven Parallel World in 2021, his most politically outspoken record to date; the project earned the Polaris Music Prize that year. Rollercoaster, an examination of the tensions within contemporary culture and technology, surfaced in 2024.

Pemberton’s musical foundation begins with his father, Teddy Pemberton, the DJ who first brought hip-hop to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Teddy Pemberton launched The Black Sound Experience radio program on the University of Alberta’s CSJR station in 1980. Cadence Weapon himself felt the urge to rap by age thirteen, yet his mother urged him toward journalism instead. He briefly studied the subject in Virginia, but the path proved unsuitable. Still, by eighteen he had gained recognition as a demanding music critic, contributing to the Brooklyn-based Stylus webzine and the influential Pitchfork. After leaving the former and being dismissed from the latter—the editor-in-chief emailed that the reviews lacked precision—he turned fully to writing rhymes and crafting his own beats. In 2005 he manufactured and distributed his initial project, the mixtape Cadence Weapon Is the Black Hand. His blog Razorblade Runner, which hosted the release, drew interest from several labels; Def Jam asked him to remix a track for their emerging U.K. garage act Lady Sovereign. Toronto’s Upper Class Recordings, the imprint that signed him, put out his debut full-length, Breaking Kayfabe, in December 2005; Big Dada later reissued it. The record earned strong notices from the independent press, including his former outlets, and was nominated for the inaugural Polaris Music Prize in 2006, an award given to the finest Canadian album irrespective of style or commercial performance. Although he did not win, the growing profile secured a deal with the U.S. label Epitaph/Anti. His follow-up, Afterparty Babies, arrived in March 2008.

Appointed Edmonton’s Poet Laureate for a two-year term in 2009, Pemberton acted as an emissary for the literary arts. He took part in the National Parks Project in 2011, joining musicians Laura Barrett and Mark Hamilton plus filmmaker Peter Lynch to compose and score a short film centered on Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. His third Cadence Weapon album, the stylistically wide-ranging Hope in Dirt City, appeared in 2012; blending electro and indie-rock textures with hip-hop, it became his second LP to reach the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. The poetry collection Magnetic Days was published in 2014. Several Cadence Weapon singles emerged in 2017, and the self-titled fourth album followed in 2018, featuring production and guest spots from Kaytranada, Jacques Greene, Blue Hawaii, Deradoorian, and additional contributors. In 2020 he issued the digital collection Remixes 2009-2013, revisiting earlier reworkings for artists including Grimes, Doldrums, and Wale. Parallel World, his fifth full-length, arrived in 2021 and carried confrontational verses that tackled gentrification, systemic racism, and police profiling; Fat Tony, Jimmy Edgar, Backxwash, and Casey MQ appeared among its guests and producers. The album marked his third Polaris shortlist appearance and delivered his first win. His memoir, Bedroom Rapper: Cadence Weapon on Hip-Hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry, was released in 2022. Rollercoaster, whose lyrics address online culture and information technology and whose sound draws from electro and hyperpop, came out in 2024; its roster of collaborators includes Loraine James, Bartees Strange, Machinedrum, and Martyn Bootyspoon.