Cale Sampson and The Weeknd
Cale Sampson
Every Thursday, Two Tracks brings you a one-two punch of Toronto’s latest audible confectionery... straight to the ears!
Cale Sampson, “Reach Up”
Last month, Kanye West showed up to Occupy Wall Street—gold chains, gold teeth, and all—and, for once, had absolutely nada to say. (No, not even a “the 1 percent doesn’t care about black people.”) But never fear, for Toronto conscious rapper Cale Sampson recently visited the protests at St. James Park and went all Zack De La Rocha on the Establishment’s ass.
Armed with nothing but a megaphone, Sampson unleashes an a cappella attack on the powers that be in front of a crowd of dissidents. The ball cap-sporting MC spits a razor-sharp set of bars that more or less comes off like a synopsis of conspiracy theory documentary Zeitgeist Addendum. He takes aim at the democratic façade (“Although democracy is supposed to be equal / Government is controlled by a small group of people”), the fractional reserve system (“Every dollar that’s printed, / It never existed, / It’s a loan that we need to pay back with interest”), and the need for a resource-based economy (“In reality, energy is abundant, / There’s no need for anyone to die of hunger. / Everyone on earth could be housed if we wanted, / But technology that could help isn’t funded”).
Okay, so it sounds like Sampson watched Zeitgeist, scrawled down some rhymes, and badda-bing. But hey, at least he’s relaying pertinent info to the people. Besides, it sure beats a bunch of dreadlocked folkies gathering around singing Bob Marley covers.
Lady Gaga, “Marry The Night” (The Weeknd & Illangelo remix)
The Weeknd’s profile is about to receive a gargantuan, Lady Gaga-addled boost. Toronto’s neo-R&B wunderkind has remixed the meat-dress-wearing pop starlet’s “Marry The Night” for her forthcoming Born This Way: The Remix album. Though he’s already got a Drake co-sign, that’s small beans compared to a nod from the reigning queen of the Internet. (Gaga’s 15 million Twitter followers practically constitute a standing army.)
While the opening declaration on Born This Way is a Meatloaf-goes-disco-style techno ballad, The Weeknd and his go-to producer Illangelo slip the tune a vile of ketamine, recasting it as a woozy, downcast slow-burner. Gaga’s hyper-caffeinated tempo is slowed down to a deep, sultry croon over melodramatic strings, a skittering beat, and layered background “woah-ohs” by vocalist Abel Tesfaye. At 2:20, the rug is suddenly pulled from under the track, as the beat is ditched for echo-laden “oooh ahh’s” and introspective ivory tinkling.
Born This Way: The Remix will be available November 21 via Interscope. Better hop on The Weeknd’s bandwagon now before everyone and their pole-dancing grandma does.
