Governor General Endorses Cadence Weapon; Declares Edmonton "Canada's Hip Hop capital"
Did our seal-eating, prorogation-granting Governor General Michaelle Jean just tell other cities to follow Edmonton's lead and start naming local rappers poet laureates? I think she did:
Read the full speech, which is more broadly about the importance of art in the lives of disadvantaged youth, by clicking here.
"I am pleased to see that Edmonton is ahead of the game on this one!
I saw how this year, you stole the heavyweight title of Canada’s Hip Hop capital by appointing Cadence Weapon as your poet laureate!
Mayor Mandel, you and the residents of Edmonton are to be commended for the leadership you are displaying in this regard.
And I encourage others to follow suit."
Read the full speech, which is more broadly about the importance of art in the lives of disadvantaged youth, by clicking here.
Labels: Cadence Weapon, Michaelle Jean
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5 Comments:
And some people say the position of governor general is antiquated and outdated! Good on her is what I say!
Seriously? You're giving easy credit for a pretty lame, out of touch speech, don't you think?
And, to think that this all started when the Oscar's legitimized it by awarding "It is hard being a pimp".
Oh, well... we are in North America after all.
first hunting a seal and now this? man, she's bad ass.
@MC Not entirely sure what you mean by "giving easy credit"? Care to elaborate?
What I find interesting about this is that with the poet laureate thing, Cadence Weapon seems to be taking on a level of recognition with people who are tuned into politics at a level that perhaps exceeds his actual popularity within the music community (not that he doesn't have a solid fanbase). What I mean is that while someone like, I dunno, Swollen Members may be more commercially successful (are there contemporary mainstream Canadian rappers anymore? I really need to watch MuchMusic), what are the odds that the Governor General or mayor of Edmonton would ever name-check them? Conversely, I know lots of music fans who have never heard of Cadence Weapon.
Usually an artist like this would go from underground music publications(this site, college radio) to mainstream music publications (MuchMusic, commercial radio) to mainstream media (Macleans, Globe and Mail) before being someone politicians might start referencing. Yet Cadence Weapon seems to be sidestepping that intermediate stage. I'm curious if this will translate into mainstream music recognition.
Also, my guess is that since this post was published days ago, no one will even notice this comment and almost certainly no one will reply to it. Sometimes I hate how fleeting the internet is.
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