Cadence Weapon takes aim at the algorithm in technology-critical album
Cadence Weapon says the release of his tech-skeptical rap album couldn't be timed any better thanks to Drake's latest diss battle.
The Edmonton-raised rapper, born Rollie Pemberton, dropped "Rollercoaster" the same day Toronto's hip-hop superstar surprised the internet with "Taylor Made Freestyle" late last month.
Drake's lyrical grenade was lobbed at rap contemporary Kendrick Lamar and utilized artificial intelligence to simulate guest vocals by Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur.
The track, which Drake yanked from his Instagram after Shakur's estate threatened legal action, stoked debate about the ethics of AI voices and cut straight to the heart of themes on Pemberton's new album.
"Rollercoaster" mines observations from an algorithmic culture that Pemberton says has encouraged derivative art, reduced itself to chasing "likes," and led to a generation of addicted and unpaid content creators.
Pemberton previously dabbled in the detriments of tech culture on his Polaris Music Prize-winning 2021 album "Parallel World," which included the song "On Me," about the effects of a modern surveillance state.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.