Cadence Weapon at Phog Lounge

by Adam El-Baba

After five years of waiting, the organizers at Phog Lounge got a bite.

Canadian hip hop artist Roland Pemberton, who goes by the stage name Cadence Weapon, performed at Phog Lounge to promote his new album Hope in Dirt City Oct. 16. Opening with Lee Reed of Hamilton, Ont. and Windsor’s own Learning, the show consisted of electronic-rock and old school hip hop music. This was one of 45 stops on Cadence’s tour across North America.

Tom Lucier, co-owner of Phog Lounge, was given an opportunity to book Cadence, who was short-listed for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize.

“You can tell certain people are headed somewhere,” said Lucier. “It’s very flattering and humbling to have someone that reputable in your space.”

Pemberton was also nominated for the Prize in 2006 for his album Breaking Kayfabe. This award goes to the Canadian artist determined to have the best album of the year and incudes a prize of $20,000.  The album was recognized by Metacritic as one of the best albums of 2006. His other album Afterparty Babies was also nominated for the Polaris Prize.

Murad Erzinclioglu from the band Learning said it was a really great opportunity to play with a Canadian chart topping artist and the show at Phog was really good for Windsor’s music scene.

“Hip hop in Windsor has always had a really tough time I thought, “ said Erzinclioglu. “It’s gone through a really quiet period in the last couple years and I think it’s really good for the community to bring some more reputable artists.”

On May 26, 2009, Pemberton was sworn as Edmonton’s poet laureate for a two year term. During his term he served as an ambassador of literary arts while still creating original work.

Pemberton’s album Hope in Dirt City was rated one of the best albums of 2012 in a National Post article released at the end of June. In the article Pemberton was compared to Canadian artist Drake and though Drake is Canada’s most commercially successful rapper, Pemberton is the “most creative.”

“What I always said when I created things was I wanted to create things that were bigger than myself,” said Pemberton. “To create something that has a sense of permanence. Something that people will come back too and will outlive you and something that people will share long after you are gone.”