Cadence Weapon: 'I Thought It Was The Next Frontier For Me' If there's any artist whose career is signposted by Polaris, it'd be Montreal-based rap artist Cadence Weapon. With his debut being first shortlisted when the award was born, his second album was also given the nod before his latest opus - the wonderfully titled 'Hope In Dirt City' - saw him return to the running yet again. DIY spoke to Rollie Pemberton (who also happened to be named Poet Laureate of his birthplace Edmonton back in 2009, no big deal) about the importance of the Prize, and just what he wants his music to be a vehicle for. Hello! How're you feeling about everything? I feel good! This is your third time in the running for Polaris - you've been shortlisted twice and long listed once. What's been going through your head in the lead up to this third time? It's exciting. It's a validation of the work that you put in. Before Polaris existed... I was in the first Polaris that ever happened, so I feel like it's my life and my career intrinsically linked with this thing. But before that, there wasn't really anything in Canada for infringed music, or any outsider music to be celebrated in any mainstream capacity. I feel like it came up at the same time as a lot of bands changed the way people thought about Canadian music. It's a response to that. If you think about Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire,