In a lot of ways Shad's background reminds me of K'naan. Born in Africa, escapes to Canada and becomes an intelligent underground hip hop artist. After listening to this, I wouldn't put Shad on K'naan's level, but he's not far off and I think he's got better stuff in him than this album.
Shad doesn't have one of the oversized personalities common in hip hop, but he's an amiable guy and very likeable, with a keen sense of humour and a self depreciating slant. From telling you to pirate his material on 'I don't Like To', or rapping about living with his mum on 'The Old Prince Still Lives at Home', with a video that has Shad re-enacting the intro to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This song ties into the underlying theme of the record which is maturing, encapsulated by the spoken word intro,
'Princes aren't supposed to grow old. Princes are supposed to grow up and become Kings.'
Lyrically, Shad is quite strong, his lines are simple but intelligent and elegant with a strong emphasis on flow, with imagery and references that work well together. He has a good range of subject matter, a few battle verses, autobiography, and society. On, Brother Watching, the strongest track on the album he examines how blaxploitation negatively shapes the growth of black children.
Now add that to the slew
Of justification the capitalists use
For the new blaxploitation
Many actions excused
In the name of getting cash
That's adversely impactin our youth
With mental slavery, the shackles is loose
And it's hard to cut chains when they attached at the roots
The biggest weakness of the album is it's production which is pretty bland. It's a pity that he didn't follow K'naan's lead and adopt African traits into his music because at the moment it doesn't stand out at all.
Overall it's a solid album, and I'm going to be listening to it for a while to come.