In Session With…Shad

Sammy Younan

Published on: October 18 2018

How Special Is October 17?
I spoke to Shad on October 17.

October 17 is Black Poetry Day. That describes Shad’s MO to a T…Shad is a crafty ninja with words. He recently covered De La Soul’s Stakes Is High adding news bars like: “always thought she’d have a yacht instead she’s having a sale…” Snap! That’s fresh.

October 17 is the first full night of NBA games (last night was just an appetizer. The season begins tonight!). Shad is thrilled to have Kawhi Leonard on the Raptors as am I…it’s one of the biggest sports trades in Toronto history and it’s an impressive gamble for a conservative franchise. Celtics looks deadly though so we won’t know what’s the what until the NBA Playoffs begin. For now we have 82 games as a trailer.

October 17 is the one year anniversary of Gord Downie’s death. That doesn’t affect Shad per say rather the true connection is The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund which acknowledges Canada’s shameful treatment of our First Nations. (Which sucks all the more because it’s present tense not past tense!) Shad is a passionate activist; he earnestly works to make our broken world better. As he raps on Magic my favourite track on his new album:
“Your traditions and intuitions
Supports, commitments, decisions
They vanish from your hand like
(Poof!)”

October 17 is day weed becomes legal in Canada. And though it doesn’t relate to his new album A Short Story About A War I ask about weed because weed it is a significant hip hop subculture. If weed is legal and there’s no more rebellious culture around it…than what happens to hip hop? I figure the host of Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution may offer some insight.

So that’s October 17. As for the rest of this month:
On Friday October 19 Season 2 of Hip-Hop Evolution streams
On Friday October 26 A Short Story About A War drops

It’s a good month. Especially when you factor in all that free candy at the end.

Host Sammy Younan @ W • T • F

Music
The Fool Pt 1 (Get it Got it Good) {from A Short Story About A War}
Magic (feat. Lido Pimienta) {from A Short Story About A War}
The Stone Throwers (Gone in a Blink) {from A Short Story About A War }

Shad @ W • T • F

In Session With Girth… is recorded live every Thursday at the Pacific Junction Hotel bar (234 King St E.) at 6:30 pm. Join Us!