Finding in-person interviews increasingly uncommon even before the pandemic, I jumped at the chance to meet with Cadence Weapon IRL in hopes of avoiding some of the potential technological pitfalls he raps about on forthcoming new album ROLLERCOASTER. Through bemoaning the internet of modernity and reminiscing about the freer, more open web we respectively grew up with, the artist expressed that, increasingly, it feels as if the technology we've tethered ourselves to is becoming an inextricable extension of ourselves.
"My Computer," the latest song to arrive from Rollie Pemberton's sixth album as Cadence Weapon, vividly captures the eeriness of this phenomenon. In tandem with the immediacy of the artist's tech jargon-addled verses, producer Machinedrum — who could have simply dialled things up to fibre-optic speeds with his skilful approaches to footwork and drum 'n' bass — soundtracks this stream of "consciousness commodified" with an industrial-leaning stomp bringing to mind the masses who have fully given their time and attention over to machines.
An accompanying video for "My Computer" — directed by Colin Medley and Jared Raab, and edited by Jason Harvey — is a work of extremely online irreverence from its Windows Movie Maker title card on out. Footage of Pemberton rapping inside a server room is spliced between technological visions old and new: 3D pipes and maze screensavers, comments sections, captchas, digital versions of Pemberton's likeness, the blue screen of death, a Spotify webpage titled "Royalties" asking "Was this article helpful?" before a cursor promptly clicks 'No,' and even more ephemera warranting multiple views. Don't forget to like and subscribe.