The other day, I was in the sudden mood to listen to Relient K — who I was a huge fan of in middle school. I popped on one of their older records and bemused about how that style — sincerity mixed with affability — seems lost in rock’s self-seriousness today. Who’s left making records like this anymore?
Well, it turns out the answer is Shad, the Canadian rapper and winner of Juno and Polaris awards.
I was as surprised as you to find out that Shad had a singing voice. Your Boy Tony Braxton is an attempt to mime the soft-rock of the late ’80s and early ‘90s, so it’s not pop punk like Relient K, but the mood feels so similar. Adult Contempt is funny and goofy, with an air of romance often mingled throughout.
Relieved from the pressures of being an award-winning rapper, it sounds like Shad is starting to have fun just hanging out and playing his guitar. “Kick” is a great track that’s catchy, approachable, and not entirely outside the realm of the Dave Matthews Band. But unlike Dave Matthews, I don’t hate it. Actually, I really like it.
It might be that it sounds like Shad just desperately needs to have fun. The record is hard to describe beyond “fun,” because describing how a rapper sounds singing over Michael Jackson-inspired soft-rock tunes is obviously a difficult task. But “fun” is the best word I’ve got at my disposal.
I prefer the tracks that are a combination of sappy, sweet, and funny: “Fall (Girl)” is catchy. “The Man?” feels like the sort of thing that soft-rock pop-punk bands would jump on. “Heluva Guy” is one of the best tracks I’ve heard all summer. It deserves to be listened to while driving down the back roads with the window rolled down.
If anything, the title of Adult Contempt betrays what the record is actually about. You get the sense that the purpose of Your Boy Tony Braxton is to be as ridiculous as possible. Even when it feels like Shad (or Tony Braxton, to be more specific, I guess) is at his most sincere on the record, it feels as if he’s overdoing it in a clear effort to give the finger to adult life.
To me, it sounds like Adult Contempt is the record you make when you have nothing but contempt for the expectations surrounding you as, well, an adult. And viewed through that lens, the album is a remarkable success, and a complete surprise.