Cadence Weapon

Under the name Cadence Weapon, Rollie Pemberton has, since the mid-2000s, built a career situated between hip-hop, electro-rap and club music. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, and later based in Toronto, he grew up in a context closely tied to the local history of the genre: his father, Teddy Pemberton, hosted the CJSR show The Black Experience in Sound from 1980, often associated with hip-hop’s arrival in the city. Cadence Weapon emerged with Breaking Kayfabe (2005), where a dense, rapid and carefully written flow unfolds over dry, synthetic productions, and he continued with Afterparty Babies (2008) and Hope in Dirt City (2012), which broadened his palette toward more electronic forms and club rhythms. Named Edmonton’s official poet in 2009, he has also pursued writing outside of music. With Parallel World (2021), an album concerned with urban, political and media questions and featuring contributions from Backxwash, Jacques Greene, JIMMY EDGAR and Casey MQ, he deepened a style in which rap converses with electro, house and synthpop; the album won the Polaris Music Prize in 2021. ROLLERCOASTER (2024) extends this approach by addressing more directly the effects of technologies and networks on everyday life.