Shad, TSOL

By Matt Demers

When an acclaimed artist manages to dodge the sophmore album curse, it almost becomes a race to see when he or she is going to screw up. Each successive album becomes a nail-biter, with fans and critics alike hoping that this album won’t be the CODA of the artist’s discography, condemned to ridicule and revulsion.

Listening to rapper Shad’s prior two albums, you’d think karma would be against him. 2005’s When It’s Over and 2008’s The Old Prince are cornerstones in Canadian hip-hop, and represent an intelligent artist whose sound is maturing. This year’s TSOL, released on May 25, looked to be a next step for Shad: he had perked listeners’ ears with The Old Prince‘s catchy tunes and deep message, and now had a stage to define himself. This was his chance to emerge from his London, Ontario beginnings and show people what he was made of.

And thank God he didn’t screw up.

TSOL is an album of diversity. It doesn’t have a defining sound, which usually would annoy me, but I’m pleased that all facets of Shad are present: we have the catchy, traditional “rap” tracks (“Rose Garden,” “Yaa I Get It,” “A Good Name”); guitar-driven slower songs (“At the Same Time”); and soulful, introspective pieces (“Telephone,” “Lucky 1’s”). In a sense, it’s a perfect Shad primer; people listening to him for the first time will be able to pinpoint their preferred flavor, and work backwards to his previous albums to find more of what they like.

While his prior works are rougher, production-wise, the lyrical quality hasn’t degraded, except for one small exception. I had a problem with “Yaa I Get It” when it was released because there was a portion in the middle of the song that was definitely not Shad.

It was sloppier than what I was used to; it forgoed lyrical intelligence to devolve into a simple chest-thumping stanza, which contrasted horribly with the rest of the song. Shad decided to tell us directly why he was great instead of letting us figuring it out for ourselves. For that verse, he became mediocre. He became every other Canadian rapper that felt the need to tell us why we should like them, instead of showing us through talent.

It was a scary moment: it showed me what could have been had Shad not decided to put up or shut up. Hopefully it isn’t the sign of a downward slide.

Ultimately, there’s little to complain about on this album. While it’s not something you might want to blast in the car to pump yourself up, it’s a great album to have on while you work, or if you just need some backround tunes to soundtrack your day. However, it also benefits from an extended listen with a good pair of headphones: the listener will actually be able to hear the intricacies of Shad’s rhymes, and will find themselves going “Huh, that’s witty,” more than a couple times.

I look forward to seeing how TSOL does come Juno time, but for now I’m going to concentrate on actually talking to the man. You can see that interview in Popshifter‘s next issue. Cheers ’til then!

TSOL was released on May 25 and is available in stores and on iTunes. Shad will be touring Canada throughout June and July; check his website for dates.