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Cadence Weapon, "Breaking Kayfabe"
Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) isn't just another 19 year old MC / producer looking to provide the world with explicitly commercial hip hop to soundtrack international youth culture. He also isn't looking to strap himself stylistically to the back of MF Doom, Cage or Slug to get his dues as this self produced independent debut ignores both the obvious underground and overground.
Upper Class Recordings
To those who have better things to do than watch men in face paint and shorts get busy the definition of this LP's title is wrestling slang meaning 'to expose the fake/unreal' and Cadence Weapon attempts to shine the spotlight on writing and biting accompanied by a guttural Jew's harp snatch of "Sharks."
It's possible to hear tiny similarities in style to the clear spoken ferocity of El-P and Roots Manuva in his vocal mix (and even a brief Jay-Z assimilation during "Fathom"'s swordfight rhythm electro sound) and surprisingly for an incredibly erudite underground MC he never slips into logorrhoea. Even on the seditious "Lisa's Spider" where he incites resistance towards the current Hip-Hop scene's popinjays he never gets vainglorious. Pemberton isn’t afraid to be humorous without being silly or talk about what he knows either instead of playing to the crowd by dropping plentiful local references throughout the Wurlitzer and buzz saw clash of "Oliver Square" (and its hidden track tag team remix).
His productions are more akin to electronic tinkering/mauling than they are block party soundtracks and sometimes it's only the metronomic beat that manages to keep the tracks from bursting out of their recorded parameters. Almost without exception he knows exactly when to drop the metaphorical rock riff moments while keeping the electro ripped textures and beats exhilaratingly rough ended and lo-fi so not to lose the kick of the Sound-Ink production style sonic experimentation. It might be minimalist in terms of ingredients but it's what he does with those fragments that put him in line for the next 'hotly tipped' discovery. It's evident in the way "Holy Smoke" turns its organ riff into a piece of chopped and frantic riffage amongst scratching and rock intro beat and the bed of brittle grinding hum on "Diamond Cutter"'s take on the 'caught with your pants down scenario.' The only point he touches anything remotely ordinary is the suspiciously familiar but difficult to place sample in "Julie will Jump the Broom" and even then it lurches like some through the looking glass organic version of IDM.
The deeply biographical "Turning on Your Sign" is the best song on offer here and the perfect representation/combination of his beats and his lyrical skill. A repeated string sample grows emotionally through the tracks nodding beat as a punchy slamming piano chorus part captures the squeezed tight eyed edgy passion of the words. How many MCs spit verses like "Hearing my heart beat through my ears, years of tears / Leers and jeers from searing peers mirrored my fears / And that's junior high speaking, I've moved past it / I could hear the rocked bells, it started to get mastered" on their debut? Cadence Weapon may be better known at the moment for his highly regarded remixes (both official and unofficial) but this album heralds the start of a personal and potent mission that will soon have him bumping heads with those he regards as fake higher up the hip hop food chain.
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