Hip-hop has always thrived at the intersection of technical precision, storytelling, and cultural commentary. But few artists move through that intersection with the grace, intellect, and sincerity that define Shad. Fifteen years ago, the Kenyan-born, Rwandan-Canadian MC dropped TSOL — an album that not only cemented his place among Canada’s most gifted lyricists but also reimagined what it means to be a rapper who leads with both heart and disposition.
Even then, Shad possessed a rare ability to speak with wit and unwavering clarity. TSOL became his magnum opus — a record that danced between themes and tones without ever losing its balance, anchored by lyrical acrobatics that never undercut his humility. Especially in a genre like hip-hop, where bravado often takes centre stage, Shad managed to flex without ever compromising his authentic self.
To understand TSOL’s resonance, it’s essential to place it in time. The year was 2010 — Canada was on the cusp of a cultural sea change. Over the following decade, Canadian artists would not only enter the global conversation — they’d dominate it. The Weeknd, Drake, and Justin Bieber simultaneously ruled the global charts, reshaping the contours of pop in their image, flanked by the likes of Shawn Mendes, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Grimes. Canada started setting the music trends, and a new sonic identity was emerging, one that embraced diversity, mirroring the nation’s growing multicultural landscape.
“Underground music had reached a broader appeal around that time,” Shad reflects. “With bands like Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year [at the Grammys], Esperanza Spalding taking Best New Artist over Bieber… and in that moment I happened to be one of the guys representing that for hip-hop here. So the wind was at my back, so to speak.”
In that context, TSOL felt both like a culmination and a pivot. Arriving three years after The Old Prince, it marked an unmistakable evolution.
“The Old Prince involved more exploring and learning — I think it has more weird edges and raw nerves,” Shad explains. “Which is cool too. But with TSOL, I wanted to be more of a grown-up about making music, just out of respect for the opportunity to make an album again. I was excited about taking that approach that time around.”
Even the title held deeper meaning than it initially suggested. TSOL is “LOST” spelled backwards — a quiet but potent nod to the disorientation that often masquerades as clarity.
“When you’re lost, the problem is that for a long time you don’t know you’re lost,” he says. “In the personal sense, it’s usually a friend or someone who loves you that says, ‘Hey, I know you think you’re fine, but you’re clearly crashing out.’ And that’s when you sort of wake up and realize you’ve lost your way a little bit.”
That sentiment threads through the album’s most introspective moments. Whether wrestling with ego, faith, purpose, or belonging, TSOL never strays far from the emotional core. It’s in Shad’s vulnerability — tempered by his poetic finesse — that the album finds its lasting impact.
The record opens with “Rose Garden,” a jubilant yet grounded meditation on success, setting the tone early: happiness doesn’t exclude struggle, and humility is a continuous practice. Across tracks like “A Good Name,” “Yaa I Get It,” and “At the Same Time,” Shad lays down bars packed with meaning, yet never veers into the didactic.
“When I look back on TSOL, it seems I was interested in having these really clear song concepts,” he recalls. “‘Keep Shining,’ ‘We, Myself and I,’ ‘A Good Name,’ ‘At the Same Time,’ ‘Telephone’ — a bunch of song ideas like these came to me with kind of blueprints. I knew exactly what the songs were about and sort of architecturally how they had to be constructed as far as the lyrics.”
Then there’s “Yaa I Get It,” a lyrical detour that leans into raw energy. It’s all grit and gravity, pure technical exhibitionism over a beat that refuses to let up.
“That felt like an opportunity within this collection of songs that mostly have very clear concepts to do something extremely loose, very raw hip-hop,” Shad says. “And at the time, it also felt interesting from a songwriting standpoint. There were posse cuts with just bars and no choruses, but not many solo lyrical showcases like that. The beat was so loud and relentless compared to what people had heard me on before — it felt exciting and kind of like a statement.”
TSOL would go on to win the 2011 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year and earn a spot on the Polaris Music Prize Short List — securing Shad’s reputation as one of the sharpest talents to emerge from Canada’s hip-hop underground. But unlike many albums adorned with laurels, TSOL still feels handmade. Intimate. Rooted in community and gratitude.
“I was surprised by the reception of TSOL to a great extent — especially the Juno win,” he admits. “I’ve always thought of myself as someone making basically underground music. The first two videos from that album were just DIY, all the songs are quite dense lyrically, etcetera. But in retrospect, I can see the timing was right.”
Since TSOL, Shad has continued his steady ascent, releasing some of the most thoughtful and quietly daring projects in the genre. His latest work, the Reel Speakers EP with Michigan-based producer 14KT — released in 2024 — is a project born from freestyles originally shared on social media. It’s compact, high-energy, and layered with the same beat-driven soul, grit, and hope that defined his earlier work.
Looking back over a decade later, how does he see TSOL in the grander arc of his catalog?
“I try to be kind to myself! I don’t go back and listen to it ever but I’m proud of it for sure. I see my first four albums, including TSOL, as a sort of collection. They are me telling my story as a young man and chasing my most formative influences. Since then it’s been a bit of a different creative journey — the albums are more outward-focused — but I’m still so glad every day that I got to do that, and that some people got to hear that album and feel seen or uplifted by it.
TSOL Track List:
1. Intro
2. Rose Garden (featuring Lisa Lobsinger)
3. Keep Shining (featuring Lady Londa)
4. Lucky 1’s (featuring Ian Kamau, Brendan Canning, and Lisa Lobsinger)
5. A Good Name
6. We Are the Ones (Reservoir Poetry) (featuring Rel McCoy)
7. Telephone (featuring Lisa Lobsinger)
8. Call Waiting
9. Yaa I Get It
10. Listen (featuring Brett Fliesser)
11. At the Same Time (featuring Justin Nozuka)
12. We, Myself and I
13. Outro
