Go For The Opener: Shad starts off on a lighter note before Freddie Gibbs

Welcome to Go For The Opener, in which we at A.V. Club plead that if you’re getting ready to see a big concert, be sure to get there early and pay attention to the opening acts.

The big show: Freddie Gibbs at High Noon Saloon, Saturday, Jan. 15

The opener: Shad

Why you should listen: Eternally stoned, blog-hyped Gary, Indiana, rapper Freddie Gibbs makes his second trip to Madison in five months—following up his well-received set at the Terrace—when he and a pair of local hip-hop artists (MC Starr and Motion) hit the High Noon on Saturday. But in between Gibbs and the local talent is a true hip-hop oddity: Ontario rapper Shad, who is Gibbs’ opener on his national tour.

Where Gibbs’ bleak realism prevents him from being on the Top 40, Shad is outsider hip-hop for two reasons: his Ontario upbringing and his dense personal lyricism. On the blaring “Yaa I Get It,” from his recently released third album, TSOL, Shad checks off speaking points on his career, from being Canadian (“I hate the phrase ‘Canadian rap sensation’”), comparisons to other rappers (“My name’s not Lil Wayne Gretzky”), his refusal to play the social networking game (“Maybe I’m not big because I don’t blog or Twitter”) and how his music isn’t immediate (“Do something less cerebral /  I’m not big enough yet, I gotta keep impressing people”). TSOL is like a trip into Shad’s journal, as he ponders what it takes to be a rapper and the unique struggle of being both Canadian and African (he’s originally from Kenya), all delivered over raucous, horn-heavy beats. He’s not going to be screaming, “Fuck The World,” like Gibbs will be; he’ll be searching for his place in it.