Cadence Weapon Pushes Poetry on the Hip-Hop Generation

Cadence Weapon has held the title of Edmonton's Poet Laureate for over a year and a half now, and he's showing no sign of taking a break from the role. And now that the rapper, also known as Roland Pemberton, has wrapped 'Tron Legacy: The Mixtape,' he's free to focus on several other projects tied to his role as E-ville's resident representative of poetic practice. One recent venture was a tour of Edmonton elementary schools, where he talked to kids about using their creativity.

"I've been telling them if they can do one thing, just write something in a creative way, something they really care about, and show it to somebody -- and I guess the kids have really been doing that," Pemberton tells Spinner. "We heard some feedback of kids rapping, one of them rapped in class. That's amazing. It was apparently an original rap about what they want to be when they grow up."

Pemberton has also been doing a lot of readings, which he says are the main focus of the job. But they aren't your average readings. He recently read a poem about his grandfather at the Grey Cup, which happened to take place in his hometown this year.

Another one of Pemberton's current endeavours is an alliance with the Works Art Society. A poem he has written will be displayed in downtown Edmonton, with each word written on an individual flag. The flags will go across three sections of Jasper Avenue and will be accompanied by a representative of each word commissioned by different artists. Once the flags are in place, Pemberton has a special event planned.

"I'm going to have a walkabout through downtown that leads people to a dance party," he says. "The idea is to convince people to spend time downtown when they normally wouldn't by reading a poem while downtown."

But if you want take part in the walkabout, you'll have to wait. It won't be happening until the spring, because of of the "extreme weather conditions" of the Edmonton winter.

Listen to Cadence Weapon's 'Baby I'm Yours' Featuring Shad