Born in Kenya and raised in London Ontario, Shadrach Kabango, Shad K for short, has made no time in making an equally interesting name for himself on the hip hop scene, Canadian and otherwise. His lyrics identify with the new generation of music fans, reflecting on a culture raised on the sounds of years past and ready to evolve into a new diverse future. His last album The Old Prince received critical acclaim, getting a nom from both Polaris and the Junos. I caught up with Shad at Winter City, where after seeing a bunch of acrobats dressed like clowns dressed like fish while freezing my tuchus off, it took a beat slamming performance from Shad to reel my head back down to earth.

What is the origin story of Shad?

Wow, origin? Of Shad? Musically?

The way the planets aligned.

The way the planets aligned? The way the planets aligned was I was very fortunate to record my first album in when was it... 2005... 04', 05' and things started rolling from there. There was this radio contest for unsigned talent that paid for my first album. That was when the stars aligned.

What does London Ontario have to offer rap and hip hop?

London Ontario is just like, yo London is just one of those little scenes you know what I mean? You got kids that love hip hop and because they love hip hop and because they live in London Ontario they dig and they do everything they can to find hip hop music and foster the culture. It's a beautiful thing.

Why did you decide to become a musician?

It's just something I love doing, really. It's the kind of thing where I'd be devoting just as much time to music now even if it wasn't my career, I'm just fortunate enough to do it as a career.

Many of your songs focus on the importance and influence of image culture in hip hop, being an artist of a new generation in a time of change in the social climate, do you predict there will be a flood of new tones among rap artists?

What I think you'll see in hip hop is a broader range of ideas being expressed and a broader range of sounds. It's going to reflect a lot of different experiences. I feel like the music is really young and especially the way music is spread now we'll see a lot more niches, some people are going to relate to certain niches and it might have to do with aesthetics and that sort of thing.

You gained popularity with the music video for a national anthem to frugality, The Old Prince Still Lives at Home, in which you pay homage to the Fresh Prince. How did that idea come about?

That was just something the director and a couple friends of mine from London pitched, we thought it would be cool, a lot of fun to do. They all did a great job on the production side of it for sure.

What do you hope to accomplish in your future?

Uhm... I have no idea, but hopefully I'll just get the opportunity to make better and better music and be able to share it with more and more people who might be into it.

When I saw you on stage, this may be me at my most vanilla talking, but you sure have a talent for freestyling (after Toronto's uncaring cold attacked the show's equipment). What is your method for freestyling and what are any good tips for any others as dry as I am.

Really for me, I feel like it's just kind of practice. The less inhibitions you have the better, the more you'll be able to think and act and engage and be in the moment. I'd say it's just those two things, practice and being uninhibited.

What are your muses, be it other artists or thematically?

Definitely I pull a lot of inspiration just from everyday life without sounding too cliché in that answer but everyday life, y'know, a lot of times music for me is a way of expressing things that happen in my life on a deeper level on a spiritual level. That's where I draw my inspiration from.

Do you get any unusual reactions or feedback for being a Canadian rapper, is it something the bulk of media find unusual?

Yeah, it's always one of those things that comes up as a topic, "being a Canadian hip hop artist, what does that mean?" that weird kind of thing. For me it's a thing where I don't know, I don't know anything different so it's hard for me to kind of comment on it. I can't distinguish it from any other experience.

Do you find it annoying to be constantly associated with other acts based on location over style?

No, it's funny to me sometimes when I don't really see any real stylistic points of comparison... Besides the fact that we're from the same country, that's just funny but it doesn't really bother me at all.

Any sound advice for aspiring talent who wish to pursue their passion?

Yes, have fun, have fun. The way music is now there's a lot of opportunities to make the music you love just not as many opportunities to get rich off of it. There's pros and cons in it, so I would suggest to take the approach to just have fun and make the music you believe in.

Shad's albums, The Old Prince and When This is Over are available in the freshest record stores (and uhm, Itunes).