Faith Pt. 2 Featuring Drake

Photo by Dani Cardona

I may not know a lot about hip-hop, but I do know of a few artists who I feel can do no wrong whenever I hear one of their songs. In this case, it's K-OS, the best rapper to ever come out of Canada. Then again, there's that one dude who was on Degrassi who played the kid who ended up in a wheelchair (spoiler alert!). Yes, I'm talking about the one and only Drizzy Drake. And wouldn't you know it, he's featured on K-os' latest track! It could be the greatest Canadian hip-hop performance of all time. Then again, this is coming from a guy who just received a reissue of Penfold's Amateurs & Professionals in the mail.

Regardless of my naivety to the genre, Faith Pt. 2 Featuring Drake is an absolute killer song. K-os delivers some of his best work since 2005's The Joyful Rebellion, punching in some freaking awesome rhymes. Drake is back to what he's best at - rapping. There's no R&B business, auto-tuning or Lil' Wayne cameos, just Drizzy showcasing his raw talent. Take a listen for yourself.

Faith Pt. 2 (Feat. Drake) - K-OS

Stamp

Another success story from our neighbors to the north, Canada’s The Rural Alberta Advantage has found its folk-tinged indie rock in heavy rotation in my playlist as of late. Departing, the band’s sophomore effort, was released in March on Saddle Creek Records. Even though it’s not quite as uniformly awesome as the ’09 debut, it still features some of the RAA’s best work. As a whole, the band is cohesive and fun to listen to. Singer Nils Edenloff’s vocal style is somewhere in between Neutral Milk Hotel and The Tallest Man on Earth, and it absolutely works. It’s the surrounding members who make this possible – The Rural Alberta Advantage is a trio and they’ve obviously achieved that hard-to-master three-piece sound. So many bands try to trick themselves up in search of being the next epic band; to be the next Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene or whatever (Canadian powerhouses!). The RAA is a well-rounded group that packs a punch when it comes to indie rock, but knows when to slow it down and tug on heartstrings.

The first single off the record, Stamp, might just be my favorite song to date by the Toronto indie rockers. It’s definitely the rock-influenced apex of the record, fast paced and full of driving force. Stamp is a song that won’t take long to get stuck in your head, and I haven’t wanted it out of mine at all in the past week. There’s not much more to ask for in a song these days than it sounding great. There’s meaningful lyrics, pulsing guitars, righteous drum fills and killer cool keyboards. Oh, and the girl in the band is hot. Just sayin’.

Stamp - The Rural Alberta Advantage