Canadian alternative rap mainstay Cadence Weapon has released the first video, for the track “Senna”, from his upcoming album Parallel World and there is clearly defined automobile action unfolding throughout. The track, produced by frequent collaborator Jacques Green, is a wonky trap slow-burner with synths that splutter and glide over Cadence Weapon’s flow, which treads the line between technical and, dare I say, “jiggy”. His output over the last few years has moved away from the deliberately oblique trademarks of his time at Big Dada and towards a more straightforward and, dare I say, “commercial” direction. “Senna” blends the more obtuse stylings of past and his more current influences nicely. The track was inspired by Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna, and the video rides conceptual shotgun.
It would be pointless for me to comment on car models and how many wheels they have as it is not my area of expertise. I can say they look very shiny and fast as they whizz past Cadence Weapon, rapping from the pit and looking transcendent in Senna’s signature red jump-suit. I will also say that it is nice to see a rapper feature cars in their video for a genuine thematic reason, rather than to appease their corporate overlords.
The second verse is when Cadence brings out the rapid artillery flow and hangs out the window of a moving car to emphasize it. There must be safer ways of making your point. Jacques Green shows up on the track in an equally magnificent blue and white jump-suit which had me seriously questioning whether I could make a jump-suit work, the answer regrettably being no. The video and track both eschew any needless trimmings and this is by no means a bad thing. The track bangs as intended and the video provides the perfect visual accompaniment. Cadence also gets bonus points for using no “track”/”track” wordplay.
Cadence Weapon’s album Parallel World releases on April 30 on eOne Music and will feature Roll Deep’s own Manga Saint Hilaire, further entrenching Canada’s grime connections and also the ‘underground Drake’ image Cadence has cultivated, which is far more favourable than it sounds. Pre-order the album here.
