Cadence Weapon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cadence Weapon
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roland Pemberton |
| Born | February 21, 1986 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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| Occupation(s) | |
| Years active | 2005–present |
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| Associated acts | Buck 65, Skratch Bastid, Noah23 |
Roland "Rollie" Pemberton is a Canadian-American rapper who is better known by his stage name, Cadence Weapon. A stage name is a special name an artist uses for their performances. He was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, but now lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Pemberton released his first album, Breaking Kayfabe, in 2005, and it received great reviews. He later signed with the American record label ANTI- and released more albums. In 2009, Cadence Weapon was chosen as Edmonton's Poet Laureate, which is a special honor for a city's top poet. He has also written a book called Magnetic Days.
His fifth album, Parallel World, won the 2021 Polaris Music Prize, a major award for the best album in Canada.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Cadence Weapon was born in Edmonton, Alberta. His family was very musical. His father, Teddy Pemberton, was a well-known hip hop DJ on the radio station CJSR-FM. His grandfather, Rollie Miles, was a famous football player for the Edmonton Eskimos.
He started rapping when he was 13 years old. After high school, he studied journalism for a short time but left to focus on his music career. In 2005, he released his first official album, Breaking Kayfabe.
Gaining Recognition
Breaking Kayfabe was a big success. Music critics in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain wrote positive reviews about it. To support the album, he toured all over Canada. He also performed at the famous South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
The magazine Chart called him one of the top 15 Canadian artists to watch in 2006. His album was also named one of the best of the year by the review website Metacritic.
Musical Inspirations
Cadence Weapon has said that music was always a part of his life. "My dad was a DJ, and he would play all sorts of stuff around the house, Hip hop, electro, funk and my mum would play piano," he explained.
He is also inspired by dance music artists like Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk. Besides making his own music, he has also written reviews about hip hop for magazines like Stylus Magazine and Pitchfork Media.
Major Achievements
Polaris Music Prize Nominations
In 2006, Cadence Weapon was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. This award gives $20,000 to the artist who created the Canadian album of the year. He was nominated for his album Breaking Kayfabe, but the award went to Owen Pallett.
Even though they were competing, Cadence Weapon and Pallett became good friends and admired each other's music. They even performed together on a CBC Radio show in 2007. His later albums, Hope in Dirt City and Parallel World, were also nominated for the Polaris Prize, with Parallel World winning in 2021.
Edmonton's Poet Laureate
On May 26, 2009, Cadence Weapon was given a special title: Edmonton's Poet Laureate. For two years, he served as a representative for poetry and writing in the city. As part of this role, he wrote new poems and shared his love of literature with the community.
Important Projects
In 2011, he took part in the National Parks Project. He worked with other musicians and a filmmaker to create a short film about Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta.
His 2021 album, Parallel World, was inspired by watching the George Floyd protests in 2020. He said he wanted to look at the world's events like a journalist and talk about them through his music. In 2022, he published a book about his life and career called Bedroom Rapper: Cadence Weapon on Hip Hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry.
Personal Life
Pemberton lived in Montreal for six years. During his time there, he worked with other artists like Blue Hawaii and Jacques Greene.
In 2015, he moved to Toronto. This move inspired his 2018 song, "High Rise," which talks about gentrification. Gentrification is what happens when a neighborhood changes as wealthier people move in, which can make it too expensive for the original residents to live there.
Discography
Studio albums
- Breaking Kayfabe (2005)
- Afterparty Babies (2008)
- Hope in Dirt City (2012)
- Cadence Weapon (2018)
- Parallel World (2021)
- Rollercoaster (2024)
Mixtapes
- Cadence Weapon Is the Black Hand (2005)
- Separation Anxiety (2009)
- Tron Legacy: The Mixtape (2010)
Singles
- "House Music" (2008)
- "Conditioning" (2012)
- "When It's Real" (2013)
Guest appearances
- Antimc - "Canadian Dream" from It's Free, But It's Not Cheap (2006)
- Buck 65 - "Benz." from Situation (2007)
- Noah23 - "Half ..." from Rock Paper Scissors (2008)
- Dragon Fli Empire - "Outside Inn" from Redefine (2009)
- Shout Out Out Out Out - "Coming Home" from Reintegration Time (2009)
- B. Dolan - "Fall of T.R.O.Y." from Fallen House, Sunken City (2010)
- The Hood Internet - "Critical Captions" from FEAT (2012)
- Shad + Skratch Bastid - "Homie" from The Spring Up (2013)
- The Voltage Heroes - "The Eagles" from This is Our City (2016)
- Jacques Greene - "Night Service" from Dawn Chorus (2019)
- Alice Ivy - "Sunrise" from Don't Sleep (2020)
- Hot Chip - "The ... That Men Do" from Freakout/Release (2022)
- Low End Activist - "Superhighway" from Hostile Utopia (2022)
Productions
- Think About Life - "Sweet Sixteen (Cadence Weapon Remix)" (2010)
- Liars - "Brats (Cadence Weapon Remix)" (2012)
