Canadian rap icon Madchild has seen the dark side and come through the other side of a lot of ‘trials and tribulations.’ These days, Madchild has a lot to be happy about when he comes back to Lethbridge, Sept. 12 at Studio 54
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He is clean and sober now, has a new solo CD “Dope Sick,” has a new Swollen Members CD coming out soon plus he is touring with one of his idols Tech N9ne.
“He has fierce lyrics,” Madchild aka Shane Bunting, enthused adding ‘fierce lyrics’ is also how he describes his own delivery.
“To me, he is one of the greatest in the business. He has a great work ethic and has a lot of success.” While he has done shows with Tech N9ne before, he hasn’t done a full tour with him.
Madchild is very pleased with his very personal and aptly named new solo CD “Dope Sick.”
Much of it was inspired by his battle with oxycontin addiction.
“The album is dope and sick,” he said adding ‘ dope sick’ is also the term for how an addict feels while recovering from addiction to dope.
The CD features several special guests including fellow La Coka Nostra’s Slaine and fellow Swollen Members’ member Prevail and Rob The Viking, who perform on “Grenade Launcher.”
The CD is highly personal and combines songs and themes from his previous two EPs.
“I had a lot of trials and tribulations. I was banned from America,” he said.
Recording the CD was not without it’s own trials. He had to replace one song on the CD because they couldn’t afford the rights to use the sample and replaced it with the exceptional “Wake Up.”
“It was a pretty good replacement,” he said.
“I’m feeling very proud of this CD,” he said.
He was simultaneously working on the new Swollen Members CD. The other Swollen Members supported him through his trials and tribulations.
“I can’t begin to tell you how good that feels,” he said.
“They are like my family,” he said.
“ I can’t even tell you how difficult it was for those guys to work with me. But I’m back in the light now,” he said.
Southern Alberta producer, Aspect from Medicine Hat group Absent Minds, produced some of the tracks on “Dope Sick,” as well as the upcoming Swollen Members CD.
“He’s from out there. He’s from Lethbridge or Medicine Hat. He was a fan of the group and reached out to us and sent us some beats,” he said adding he sent them some beats which they really liked and they developed the relationship from there.
“He’s dope. He’s a very talented MC,” he enthused.
“He’s a great guy.”
He is pleased with the debut video for “Monster,” the first video from the New Cd which features Madchild and friends as zombies attacking hipsters.
“It’s a cool idea for a concept,” he said, adding the song captures his feelings about mainstream rap.
“It‘s an anti-mainstream song. I don’t want to make music I don’t enjoy,” he said.
He encouraged people to support live music and independent music. He is thankful for his fans who support his career.
“ If you can’t afford it, download it, but if you can afford to, then pay the 10 bucks for it. Just listen to it. Ain’t no-one’s getting rich here, we do it because we love to do it,” he said.
Tech N9ne, Madchild, Krizz Kaliko and Transit play Studio 54 at 9 p.m., Sept. 12.
Tickets are $40
