Cadence Weapon
Rollercoaster
MNRK
Rollercoaster posits a funny question that Cadence Weapon chases the answer to throughout the new album’s 34-minute run time. With brilliant wit, scathing social commentary, and sardonic intellect, the Canadian emcee born Rollie Pemberton wonders what the club would be like if instead of ecstasy and catharsis, nights were propelled by dynamic lectures on technology, conversations on societal structures, and forums on fair labor practices. This is dance music that landscapes a Dem Soc pamphlet, an impassioned plea for fair wages, a just world, and mutual respect.
Aside from the pump fake that is the campfire-opus opener “Cadence £∞™.mp3,” this is an album of electro bangers and diabolically clever lyrics from the critic, songwriter, former Poet Laureate, and philosopher (yeah, I said it). The album’s thesis is established and most clearly conveyed on its second track and lead single, “Press Eject.” It’s sharp with broken edges and a metallic sheen, and if you played it at a Spotify board meeting I think at least one of the corporate schmucks might consider restructuring the streaming royalty disaster. “Unpaid labor, we should go on strike / Monetize my life, colonize my site,” Pemberton raps. Elsewhere, he notes that he can’t afford rent on Earth or online, which should make everyone in either realm very concerned—if one of rap’s most naturally gifted emcees doesn’t feel he has a financial chance in this industry, the plot has been lost entirely.
It’s a generally bleak listen, but Cadence holds a unique ability to laugh through the terror and approach his role as master of ceremonies with the confidence of a court jester who knows he should be king. The skittering, nervous “Lexicon” proves that he understands his worth and demands that the phonies and never-beens take their seats and enjoy the show. “Didn’t write your verse, don’t converse with me,” he spits, “Your whole squad full of nepo babies, where’s the nursery?”
The looming threat of AI could spell the end of the modern music industry as we know it, but Cadence Weapon is more skeptical than scared. He was never part of the institutions that will crumble, never wanted to attend the afterparties that will be canceled. Rollercoaster sounds like good riddance to a particularly outdated structure, and while it doesn’t look like what’s on the horizon is any better, sometimes you just need to tear the whole fucker down and let the fighters and scrappers be the new architects.
