Shadrach Kabango (born July 18, 1982), better known as Shad or Shad K, is a Canadian rapper and broadcaster. He has released 7 full-length albums and 3 EP's since his debut in 2005. He won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2011 and 5 of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, the most short-list nominations of any artist since the prize's creation in 2006.^[1] In 2013, CBC Music named Shad the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time.^[2][3] Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016 and hosts the International Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution on HBO Canada and Netflix.^[4]

Born in Kenya to Rwandan parents, Shad was raised in London, Ontario.^[5] His mother worked as a lab technologist in a London hospital and his father was a machinist.^[6] He attended London Central Secondary School.

While an undergraduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, Shad won $17,500 from 91.5 The Beat's Rhythm of the Future talent competition.^[7] He was entered in the radio contest by his sister.^[8] The prize money was used to finance his self-released debut album When This Is Over (2005). The album was recognized for Shad's honest lyrics^[9] and focus on social causes—for example, the track "I'll Never Understand" examines the Rwandan genocide and includes poetry written by his mother Bernadette Kabango.^[10]

In 2007, Shad was signed by Black Box Recordings for a three-album deal and released his second album, The Old Prince.^[11] The album was supported by four singles, most prominently "The Old Prince Still Lives at Home", with its accompanying viral music video.^[12] In 2008, The Old Prince received a Juno Award nomination for Rap Recording of the Year and was a short-list nominee for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize.^[13] The music video for the single "The Old Prince Still Lives at Home" was nominated for two MuchMusic Video Awards in 2008.^[14]

Shad released his third album, TSOL, in 2010. TSOL was a short-list nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, the video for the song "Rose Garden" received a nomination for a 2011 MuchMusic Video Award, and the album won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards.^[15] On beating out Canadian compatriot Drake for the Juno, Shad said in an interview: "I did not think for a second that I would win. Not for one second. He's massive. He's massive in the States, he's massive in Canada."^[16]

In 2012, Shad released the EP "Melancholy and the Infinite Shadness"^[17] and in June 2013, he released a collaborative EP with Skratch Bastid entitled The Spring Up.^[18] Shad's fourth album,^[19] Flying Colours, was released on October 15, 2013.^[20] This album was nominated for the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2014, and was a short-list nominee for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize.^[21] In December 2014, Shad released a collaborative EP with DJ T. LO entitled "Boarding Pass".^[22]

In 2016, he released a 90s-influenced soft-rock album, Adult Contempt, under the pseudonym Your Boy Tony Braxton.^[23] The alter ego was based on "the idea of a dude named Tony Braxton who likes to sing (but obviously isn't as good as the famous Toni Braxton)."^[24] Musically, the album was inspired by Michael Penn, Terence Trent D'arby, The Cure, Bryan Adams, and Janet Jackson.^[25]

In the same year, Shad collaborated with Tanya Tagaq on "Centre", a track from her album Retribution, and also recorded for Homeboy Sandman, Skratch Bastid, and A Tribe Called Red (on We Are the Halluci Nation).

In July 2018, Shad released the lead single, "The Fool Pt 1 (Get It Got It Good)" from his new album, A Short Story About a War. Two follow-up singles, "The Fool Pt. 3 (Frame of Mind)" and "The Stone Throwers (Gone in a Blink)", were released in prior to the album's release.^[26] The album was released in October 2018 on Secret City Records and included collaborations with Lido Pimienta, Kaytranada, Ian Kamau, Eternia, and Yukon Blonde. A Short Story About a War is a concept album, which explores the same war from multiple perspectives.^[27] The album was short-listed for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize, marking Shad's 4th Polaris short-list nomination.^[28]

In April 2020, Shad indicated he was working on finishing a new album.^[29] He also was featured on Tobi's "24 (Toronto Remix)" and its corresponding music video, along with Haviah Mighty, Jazz Cartier, and Ejji Smith.^[30]

In April 2021, Shad released the single "Out of Touch", featuring pHoenix Pagliacci, followed by the single "Work", featuring Skratch Bastid, the next month.^[31][32] In June 2021, Shad announced his new album, TAO , would be released October 1, 2021.^[33] He also released the song "Storm", which featured pHoenix Pagliacci and George Elliott Clarke.^[33] On July 14, 2022, TAO was short-listed for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.^[1]

Shad is described as a "conscious" and "reflective" rapper,^[8][41] known for his witty lyrics on heartfelt subjects.^[42] Shad has stated that he was influenced by the artists that he listened to in high school, such as Common, Lauryn Hill, Eminem, The Roots, Notorious B.I.G., and Outkast.^[43][44]

Shad is bilingual, speaking English and French. He holds a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University^[44] and a master's degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University.^[45] Shad and his wife married in 2016; they have two daughters.^[46]