Cadence Weapon – aka rapper, producer, author, and former poet laureate Rollie Pemberton – releases a new single/video, “Exceptional” (feat. Jacques Greene), off of his upcoming album, ROLLERCOASTER (MNRK Music), arriving April 19, 2024. Featuring production from Jacques Greene and additional vocals by myst milano, “Exceptional” is a high-octane, club-ready track. “When I wrote ‘Exceptional’ with Jacques Greene, I wanted it to feel like the endorphin rush you get from pressing the button that says ‘Buy It Now’ when you’re shopping online,” says Pemberton. The music video, directed by Colin Medley and Jared Raab, features Pemberton constantly changing outfits and dancing in a hyper-dimensional, strobe-heavy alternate dimension, rapping “my taste is not cheap / do just what I please / cop anything I see.”

The hyperpop and electro-inspired production of ROLLERCOASTER is intended to replicate the internet’s “sensory overload.” With credits including the likes of Jacques Greene, Grandtheft, Bartees Strange,  Machinedrum, Cecile Believe, Martyn Bootyspoon, Loraine James, Taydex, Wesley Singerman, myst milano, and Harrison, Pemberton has organized a combination of tried-and-true Canadian collaborators and “fellow Black weirdos,” as Pemberton puts it, to execute his vision. On ROLLERCOASTER, Pemberton expands his incisive commentary to the sprawling internet—a former utopian playground that’s turned into a capitalist junkyard—to remind users they don’t have to just “go along for the ride,” he says.
 
Despite its bleak portrait of today’s digital attention economy, ROLLERCOASTER still fits into a long lineage of Black electronic artists using music to forge Black futures. It goes hand-in-hand with his work outside of music, as he frequently uses his platform to shed light on musicians’ rights and financial realities. By illuminating the current issues of the world, Pemberton inspires others to join him in the fight for a better one.

Cadence Weapon Tour Dates:
Fri. April 19 – Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks
Sat. April 20 – Toronto, ON @ TD Music Hall
Wed. May 1 – Quebec City, QC @ Pantoum
Thu. May 2 – Montreal, QC @ Ausgang Plaza
Fri. May 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Zone One
Sat. May 4 – Washington, DC @ Quarry House Tavern
Sat. May 11 – Los Angeles @ Zebulon
Wed. May 15 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
Thu. May 16 – Seattle, WA @  Barboza
Fri. May 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
Sun. Aug. 4 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival