Today, Toronto rapper Shad and Michigan based producer 14KT are surprising everyone by dropping a brand-new EP showcasing their recent collaboration. Reel Speakers, a four-track EP stemming from freestyles Shad did on socials, is a compact, high-energy listening with beat, grit, soul, and hope. It is available now on all streaming platforms.
Listen to “Reel Speakers” HERE.
The pair, having met at DJ Jazzy Jeff’s iconic Playlist Retreat years prior, connected over freestyles Shad was doing on Instagram two or three times a week for 10 weeks as a challenge he had given himself to celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. 14KT started crafting a beat for one of the freestyles online, and the project eventually took shape and birthed Reel Speakers.
Diving into Reel Speakers, Shad tells us more about the creative process. On “A Day in the Life,” Shad tells us, “I wrote this one, like the whole EP, in a free (association) style of rhyming. I’m describing what’s going on in and around me, playing with words, and stumbling onto new meaning in the process. The production is raw and rugged, spiked with some sweet background vocals by Grace Marr.” On “Kingdome Come,” he adds, “I think the magic of being is in the art of it. Seeing all the paradoxes at the heart of it. Like how the END we fear is also the start of it. And how most WHOLE when we’re just a part of it. Exploring the paradoxes of life and music and vowing to continue in both with radical joy. Musically, there’s an eternal, timeless feeling to the track. I love ending on that soulful note both lyrically and in terms of production.” On “Hunting Goats,” Shad raps, “Mans don’t know how to spit, and fans don’t know how to listen. Where you gonna go without a vision?” “I guess I go about it different”. He explains; “Classic bragging and boasting, but there’s a message there too about how true greatness is when the music is about something bigger than yourself. The beat on this one adds eeriness and grit.” The record closes with “Keep Going (And Don’t Forget).” He states: “My only message is to keep going and don’t forget.” “There was a moment recently when I realized that, as much as I’ve experimented sonically through the years and touched on a range of topics, my music always comes down to the same two messages: Keep going and don’t forget. An encouragement to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and to constantly remind yourself of what’s true and good. KT put a bounce on this track and a hopeful energy in music that fits the theme perfectly.”