iLIKE: Shad by Promise

Author: Tanya M. Fowlow

iLIKE (no relation to ilike.com) will be where you can find out who/what Promise likes. If you never knew before you know now Shad K is one of Promise’s favorite emcees. Recently iPROMISEMUSIC caught up with this talented artist for an exclusive interview in which Shad talks about winning $17,000.00 in a talent contest, securing a Juno nomination, Vans ‘Warped’ Tour and more!

Shad 101: “I’m a hip-hop artist. I grew up in London, Ontario but I live in Vancouver now. I’ve put out a couple of albums; the first one independently in 2005 and that gave me the opportunity to just get started, play some shows and kinda start to build. I released a second album with an independent label called Blackbox Records and that’s allowed me to continue to move forward career wise and just share some more music.”

Was music always the career of choice?: “Absolutely not! I never really thought it was a viable option, and I also never really assumed people would take to what I do. I knew it was somethin’ I really enjoyed from a self-expression point of view and from a creative challenge as well, but it was never anything I assumed other people would take to the point where I could make it a career. I’ve been pleasantly surprised”.

Getting schooled: “My first degree was at a time where I finished high school and it was time to move on and do something else, and at the time university is what made sense. I was pursuing music while I was in school there it was something I wanted to complete and I had the time to complete it. This degree, my current one, is really just something that I enjoy. I enjoy it like I enjoy music and it’s not something I’m doing with any specific career intension. It’s just something that I didn’t get to do in undergrad. When I’m not on tour I have time to do it and I just like it. It’s not always easy but so far so good. I’ve been able to make it work but I had to take the fall term off to tour, and this term I was able to plan shows so I was mostly playing on weekends and stuff. I just kinda play it by ear and I keep the school part-time so I can manage stuff. I take it a couple months at a time and so far it’s worked out”

Inspired: “I hate to be cliché but my inspiration just comes from life; everything that goes into my life like thought, reflection, prayer and meditation, just thinking about life and what it is in me to express and how to do it in a way that’s creative, honest and fun. It’s music so there’s always that aspect of the raw inspiration of the moment and the musical energy that comes out when you’re in the studio or listening to tracks and that sorta thing – that’s kinda spontaneous energy.”

And the winner is…: “There was a radio station called 91.5 ‘The Beat’ in Kitchener-Waterloo and they had an unsigned talent competition. The winners got like $17,000.00 to record an album. Normally I’m not one for talent contests and that kinda thing but it was a great opportunity because I was sitting on some material I really wanted to record. Because I’m so lazy [laughing] I really wasn’t going to send anything in but my sister did it for my birthday present. I was really fortunate and things worked out and really that’s how I got to record.”

For the complete article CLICK HERE.