Cadence Weapon Peels Out on New Track & Video “SENNA”
Written by SOURCE on February 19, 2021
Cadence Weapon skrr skrrs to a beat by Montreal producer and frequent collaborator Jacques Greene on “SENNA,” the lead single for his forthcoming album Parallel World out April 30. Or, as his faster-than-F1 spitting goes on the new single: “Hydroplane when I slide on the rhythm.”
The subject of one of his favorite documentaries, F1 driver Ayrton Senna also became the Edmonton-born MC’s muse when he heard Greene’s beat because its “synths felt like driving through a forest road at night,” Cadence tells Complex. “I started thinking about the doc, and how Senna was a maverick that repped where he was from. How he always strived for greatness.”
Is all that not enough to make the racer sound like amrap hero? Then his “Big Pimpin’”-style champagne spraying certainly will. Cadence was captured popping bubbly of his own at Sunset Speedway in Innisfil, just outside of Toronto, for the “SENNA” video by none other than Scott Pilgrim (it was produced by PIQUE, who were at the helm for Cadence’s 2018 song “High Rise,” and created with support from the MVP Project, a joint initiative of RBCxMusic and the Prism Prize.
Cadence says the hotly buzzed Montreal artist (of Black Atlass video fame) “perfectly executed a concise vision. I wanted Gran Turismo in an alternative universe. Scott turned those ideas into a reality.” Pilgrim says such compliments are “cool to hear” because he grew up watching Cadence’s innovative videos on Much Music, especially 2005’s “Black Hand.”
In the new clip, Cadence raps next to, and inside, a vintage red speedster (which he says came courtesy of Greene’s “homies in the car world”). He’s dressed in a photo-finish-worthy racing suit, and dons a special helmet that will stay seared in viewers’ memories long after the final frame. Pilgrim says the MC was “dedicated to giving his all” on the “SENNA” set, “especially since we shot in almost freezing temperatures!”
And when Cadence hung out of the window of the speeding racecar for one scene? “He was a bit nervous at first, but I was thrilled he made it happen” says Pilgrim. “I wanted that shot to bring rawness to the performance. Though I’ll admit I probably wouldn’t have volunteered to do it myself.”
Pre-order the album here. Watch the video above.
