Okay, so our dollar is getting stronger but our buying power has always been high. The Lyrical Lounge’s favorite Canadian recently found her way backstage on a snowy Monday night to interview both Classified and Shad after their sold-out show. And yeah, Tim Horton’s fans, the title is a shoutout to how we do our coffee (the closest compliment to the NYC deli coffees). -Angelica LeMinh

First, with the headliner, Classified, second-timer here at the Lounge…

ALM: How was the Superbowl for you? Did the promoters (Escape Entertainment MTL) set you up in a comfortable environment for the viewing?
Class: I’m not a big fan of sports, I used to follow hockey more, but it was cool. J-Bru (tour mate) lost it all on the Patriots though, (laughs).

ALM: Have you recovered anything from the robbery (after the first date, Class and his entourage were jacked walking from the venue to the tour bus. His laptop, which contained his new album, was amongst the booty-don’t say Victoria cats aren’t viscious….) yet?
Class: Not a thing.
ALM: Damn, that’s kinda a low note to start your tour on, no?
Class: Yeah, definitely a bummer, but what can you do buy move on? I backed everything up though, oh yeah, if not, it woulda been much more serious.

ALM: In this day and age, where things are rendered “old skool” a minute after they drop, you’re kind of a veteran, what with over ten years in the game. Is there anything in your own repetoire that you think captures the feel and energy of hip hop in 1996?
Class: All my music, really. I’m not too inspired by the music that’s around right now, though that being said, I like the new Alicia Keys, Pharoahe’s latest, Talib Kweli’s latest, those were some solid joints. I keep my ears open to other genres, because I have to do that as a producer.

ALM: Are you following the election south of the border at all?
Class: No. I don’t care about the states. I don’t believe the hype and I don’t follow it.
ALM: Do you want to tour the states?
Class: We have, a bit, but for the next tour, I want to hit Europe. I’ve done two of the biggest tours in Canadian music, especially hip hop, so I have some bargaining power behind me, and I really want to explore the European market. Also, Japan speaks to me, because they’re interested in new music, North America is still fixated with older, established hip hop artists and styles. The world is waiting for something fresher.

ALM: Talk to me about that guy over there.
Class: Shad? He’s killing the album sales, I’ll tell you that. I first met him about two and a half years ago in London (Ontario).
ALM: His hometown!
Class: Yeah, and it’s great to have him on tour with us. Really solid rapper and album.

ALM: What do you make of the “underground” hip hop right now?
Class: What is underground anymore? Underdog is more like it, because it’s what is harder to sell, isn’t as sticky, live instruments, I don’t know.
ALM: well, you have that classic line about “pot and pan beats made in your basement”
Class: Yeah, but everyone’s getting better, you know? So that used to be the way to discern it, but nowadaze…

ALM: What’s the craziest job you’ve ever had?
Class: I used to be in computer support. I made what, 42Gs a year, but I was laid off. I had myself all lined up with unemployment and was ready to take a year off, and they actually came back and offered me another job, a comparable one, but I turned it down, (my dad wasn’t so pleased about that), and took a chance. Now, here I am.

ALM: I know you got groupie stories…
Class: I had groupies before I even had a video on Muchmusic (his DJ also perks his ears and joins in on this one)
DJ IV: Girls are crazy, man.
Class: (to me) Not all girls, of course, but some of them on the road…
DJ IV: Remember in London? There was this girl in the front row who was bawling her eyes out, and J-Bru called her out, asked her why she was crying, and she was all, “I’ve been waiting four years for this”. He replied that he was through two years before, and she was like, “I know, but I was in the hospital”.
Class: Yeah, wasn’t that the same show that there were those 6 girls who came up and started making out?

ALM: Your favorite potato product? (I had to ask, since we are in the home of poutine)
Class: I like mashed potatoes. And ketchup chips.

ALM: What do white boys have left to be angry about?
Class: The same things that everyone has to be angry about. Haters will be haters. Life is tough, you gotta just take it and deal. I try to find ways to laugh, make the most out of every situation, because we’re all fucked up, and we can all cast judgement, but it’s important to remember that there’s always somebody who has it worse.

and now…with The Old Prince himself, Shad:

ALM: How was the Superbowl for you?
Shad: Football is a funny sport, it’s one that I’ve never played, but can watch for hours. Yesterday, the biggest play in the history of the Universe went down, it was obscene. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

ALM: Does your mama open your album, man?
Shad: Yeah! My mama and my daddy!

ALM: Did you lose anything in the robbery? How was that to start off the tour?
Shad: Luckily, no. But I feel for those guys, I own very little in this world, I can put everything in a few bags, but I can count my laptop and my cellphone as treasured items, so if I lost those things…but the vibe of the tour has still been great.
ALM: Is there a lot of weed smoking on this tour?
Shad: Yes. (grins).
ALM: Do you participate?
Shad: Nope.

ALM: So you’re going to collaborate with the homie, Ebrahim?
Shad: Yeah! we have a producer in common, and his album is amazing! I hope we get a chance to pull it together before I leave Vancouver.
ALM: Actually, we were just gmail chatting about music from 1996 and he sent me this Youtube of the BUMS, remember them?
Shad: YES! They’re amazing! Wow, makes me want to work with him even more now! But those cats, they were just obscure, you only needed to see/hear them once and the energy sticks with you. Music is weird like that though..

ALM: Are you buying into the hype about the election?
Shad: It’s kind of hard to avoid it. But it’s so political, for lack of a better word. I mean, the whole thing is so caught up in rhetoric about race and gender and not really about issues on anyone’s platform. We’re so bombarded with it that it’s hard to form an opinion, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

ALM: Whatchu gotta say about Classified?
Shad: I have so much respect for that cat on all levels: as a songwriter, performer, producer, his business sense. It’s a huge opportunity for me to be touring with him.
ALM: He wants to go to Europe next.
Shad: Yeah? Well, all the best to him, I’m sure he will do great. His music is world class, his stage show is world class. Me? I’m not so adventurous, even though my manager is. The album is dropping in Japan and I hope I can hook him up by going over there, because he’s obviously not making that much money as my manager.
 

ALM: Why aren’t you so adventurous?
 Shad: I hate packing…
ALM: You just told me you don’t have anything!
Shad: I know, but I hate airports, waiting in line, flying, all that. I feel like everything you can learn about the world, you can do it from watching TV and it’s quicker just to watch TV.

ALM: What’s the craziest job you’ve ever had?
Shad: Maybe you can decide. Let me run them down for you: I’ve been a babysitter, I was a janitor at an accounting firm, then there was McDonald’s..
ALM: Black socks!
Shad: You have to rock the black socks with the Zellers pants, it’s kind of protocol. Next, I worked at a variety store..and that concludes my high school work history. Moving on, I was a temp the summer of my first year, so I basically stamped files, and I’ve had three coop terms in marketing. Now, I’m a rapper, and that’s probably the craziest job anyone can have.

ALM: I know you got groupies…
Shad: No, not really.
ALM: I don’t believe you.
Shad: It’s my first tour!
ALM: Can you make up some?
Shad: If you give me time.
ALM: Naw, I just saw your freestyle skills in full effect, you can do it. And just give me the Reader’s Digest version.
Shad: Reader’s Digest; laughter is the best medicine.
ALM: (laughs)
Shad: (laughs). Ok. So there was this girl who came back stage with a rose and a knife, telling me that she loved me but was trying to stab me. We ended up dating for a few years…
ALM: and then you had to cook some vegan food and rent The Notebook?
Shad: and hence, Out of Love Part Two.

ALM: What does K-os have left to be angry about?
Shad: So much. Everything. It can be a difficult place to be in, if you’re so dedicated to music, and you take it so seriously when those around you seem to want to use it for something else. Music is one of the only sacred things, but there are not a lot of people who take it seriously.
ALM: But would you quit if you got to the point where you’re throwing keyboards and stuff.
Shad: I would hope so.

And thus concludes my conversation(s) with two of the most down to earth cats in hip hop, no matter which side of the Can-American divide you represent. Shad rocked out in the crowd in his Roxette shirt to Dead Prez and Class electrified his loyal fanbase with his tunes vintage and crispy. Both epitomize the slogan of Concentr8 for 2008, eh?

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 am and is filed under Angelica LeMinh, Culture, Interview, Music, The Lyrical Lounge (Hip-Hop). You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.