Cadence Weapon Works Rock and Rap Into His CMW Arsenal

At last year's Canadian Music Week, rapper Cadence Weapon sent shockwaves through Toronto when he debuted a full rock band. On Thursday night, Cadence Weapon, aka Roland Pemberton, used his CBC Radio 3/Sirius/Billions CMW showcase with DJ Tim Hoover and drummer Phillip Karneef to play up the rock vibe but with a decidedly hip-hop twist.

"This is a continuation of the rock band," Pemberton, who's currently the Poet Laureate for Edmonton, Alberta, told Spinner after his set. "In retrospect, we couldn't adapt the songs in the same way. Now I'm happy with it. I feel I can still have the progressive electricity with organic funkiness."

The trio played a few classic older songs like 'In Search of the Youth Crew' and 'Sharks' to pleased head-bopping fans, but new songs such as 'Come On, James Brown,' 'Jukebox' and 'Hope in Dirty City' -- all due for the tentative summer release of the rapper's next album, 'Roquentin' -- were performed with more gusto, and received just as well by the audience.

Cadence Weapon wasn't quite as energetic as his usual gregarious self as it seemed he was more concerned with getting his songs across properly.

"I'm looking forward to listening back to it," said Pemberton, referencing the fact that CBC Radio 3 was recording the entire event. "And I think my mom was listening!"