On a lazy Tuesday afternoon, Is This Music arrives at the Ivy bar to find Canada’s finest export, Cadence Weapon, nursing a rum and coke whilst the barman explains to his DJ the ancient rivalry of the Old Firm.
After introducing himself as Roland we grab a seat to discuss his new album, ongoing tour and the flaws of hip hop.
“This venue is really cool” he exclaims “It reminds me of this bar called The Black Dog back home, should be a good show tonight, we’ll get some people up there with us.”
“I was in Edinburgh last night playing the Voodoo Rooms. It’s an amazing city, looks great with the castles and everything, it just looks super old. I’m looking forward to going to Barcelona, it should be really hot. I’m also heading to Glastonbury this year, which will be three days of me getting totally wasted and trying to meet celebrities. Gonna wear a full body jumpsuit and rubber boots, they’ll be wondering what I’m up to when I go though airport security.”
This year seen the release of Roland’s second album, Afterparty Babies, which received critical acclaim from both broadsheets and blogs.
“I’ve been pleased with the success of album so far, it is only my second album and I’m still young, still developing musically. It’s my first time over here as far as touring extensively is concerned and the response has been good. Most people are pretty positive about it, especially in Canada and y’know it is nice to be respected by my peers.”
As well as spitting some of the most intelligent one liners you’ll hear on any record this year, Roland also dabbles in production work, creating beats for label mates.
“I like both performing and producing, I haven’t done a lot of production work lately, I need to get back into making more beats for people, I’ve just been so busy touring lately. I’ve been touring perpetually so far this year, I’ve not been home since January. I’m looking forward to getting some new gear and hammering out some more beats for people. I mostly use computer based stuff but I want to branch out into different types of equipment.”
Despite only being twenty-one, Roland has two critically acclaimed albums under his belt and his ongoing tour showing no signs of stopping. Was there ever a moment that was significant in his breakthrough?
“There were two moments, the first one was when I released my first mixtape before my album, and one of the songs on it was Oliver Square. It appeared on this blog and it was basically how I got discovered. As a result of that I got my first remix job, which was for Lady Sovereign. It was my first time getting paid to do a remix, and I blew that money so fast, I basically didn’t work for a few weeks, just sat around getting drunk with my friend Jan on all these weird types of alcohol.”
Creating outstanding work is always difficult and it is all too easy to let standards slide. Roland clearly hasn’t cut himself any slack when creating the new album and admits that some sacrifices had to be made.
“I currently have a girlfriend who I’ve been with for over a year and a half, it’s been really difficult to keep up. I’ve just been so busy. Sometimes I forget just how cool it is to be my age and travelling all over the world, seeing these places, have people care about what I do and say. But sometimes, yeah, it would be nice to be at home working in a clothing store and having a girlfriend. The new album is influenced by a few girls, one of them is an ex-girlfriend who I wanted to apologise to, she has become something of a muse for me for a little while. Another one is just one of my friends who got me into the scene and the whole hipster culture.”
When asked what the biggest threat to hip-hop is Roland pauses for all of half a second before confidently replying “stagnation.”
“It happens a lot, almost only in hip hop, they will put out an album and if it is successful they’ll just do the same shit. They’ll keep releasing the same album. If Fat Joe has a number ten hit he’ll just keep releasing songs that sound like that hit. Where is the logic in that? People do not want the same shit, in my understanding, it’s crazy. It’s just about being different, everyone is a band now, the only way to make something of any importance is to be different. For me I’m more impressed by something that is original than something that is technically good or musically talented. That means shit to me.”
Hip hop is always coming under fire for various reasons, whether it is it’s violent content or the already discussed threat of stagnation. Is it possible that hip hop is just misunderstood?
“I think in the States there is a pre set idea about how rap is supposed to be. People do not give it enough credit, as a music form it is the most opened ended kind of music form you can make. You can sample any other genre, you can make anything happen and it can still fit in the genre of rap. People think that hip hop has to sound like Dr. Dre and fit into this box. I think artists end up making stuff that fits into this box because the audience think this box exists. It a call and response thing, people only make this stuff because they think people like it. It’s kinda weird.”
After experiencing so much success in the past few years is there any advice he can offer to upcoming artists?
“Prepare to lose everything, you have to work super hard to achieve that goal. A lot of people don’t understand just how much work needs to be done. The number one thing I tell people is to be original. Please don’t try and be like me or someone you like. Be like no-one. Sure, have your influences, but don’t be like them. I’m influenced by Bob Dylan, but shit I’m not trying to sound like him.”
“The Canadian hip hop scene is growing, there are some good artists out there, Touch comes to mind. The main problem I’d say is that it’s a bit of a boys club, much like American hip hop. Rappers are too worried about there perception, me, I don’t give a fuck about that.”
After discussing how open and creative hip hop is as a music genre, I ask Roland if he thinks hip hop has the best and worst aspects of what a music genre can be.
“That is exactly how I feel about it, I feel like it has the most potential for good and the most potential for bad. The reason I love De La Soul so much is that they took so many chances. I feel that you can do anything in this genre, I could sample myself walking down the street or the sound of a stone hitting sand and turn it into a banger. I think influence is too powerful in hip hop, everyone is trying to be their icon.”
When talking about his hometown, Roland describes how his work path was very different a few years back.
“I was enrolled in journalism school for a while, I was writing before I went to University, I wrote for the local alt weekly paper and Pitchfork. I already knew everything I was getting taught at University, I was getting perfect grades without even trying. I decided to give the music thing a try, I was paranoid that if I didn’t release my record at that point someone else would bring out a record exactly like it a year later. Can you imagine that? Well, that was my theory so I decided to go for it. And it paid off, I’m really happy with how everything worked out, getting to travel all over and meet cool people. Not a lot of people from where I’m from get to do this, y’know?”
- Rough Trade - 18 August 2008
- White Denim - 7 August 2008
- Cadence Weapon - 27 May 2008