Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, Breaking Kayfabe, in 2005 with positive reviews. He subsequently signed with the American record label ANTI-, releasing the albums Afterparty Babies in 2008 and Hope in Dirt City in 2012. In 2009, Cadence Weapon was named Edmonton's Poet Laureate. His first book Magnetic Days was published by Metatron in 2014. Cadence Weapon released a self-titled album in 2018. His fifth studio album, Parallel World, was released on April 30, 2021, and won the 2021 Polaris Music Prize on September 27, 2021. Biography Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, his father was Teddy Pemberton, a pioneering hip hop DJ on CJSR-FM, and his grandfather was Rollie Miles, a football player for the Edmonton Eskimos. He began rapping at age 13, and following high school he briefly attended journalism school, dropping out soon afterward to concentrate on music. He released the mixtape Cadence Weapon Is the Black Hand in 2005, and his full-length debut Breaking Kayfabe at the end of the year. Breaking Kayfabe garnered strong reviews in Canadian, American and British media, and Cadence toured extensively to support the disc, including concerts across Canada and three shows in Austin, Texas, at the 2006 South by Southwest festival. Chart magazine named Cadence Weapon one of the 15 Canadian artists to watch in 2006. In addition, the composite review site Metacritic listed Breaking Kayfabe as one of the best albums of 2006. Cadence described his inspiration to pursue a career in music: "It was around me all the time when I was growing up, my dad was a DJ and he would play all sorts of stuff around the house, Hip hop, electro, funk and my mum would play piano. And I suppose I just randomly got into rapping. I remember rapping in math class, I failed maths, but I suppose I did OK in other things." Cadence has said that he is inspired by dance music: "I'm a big Basement Jaxx fan. I like the way their music sounds, really like it's a party happening. It sounds really organic and super-tech. Switch. Obviously Daft Punk. I'm into very European stuff. I like some of the Ed Banger stuff. Dubsided Records." In addition to his own recordings, Cadence Weapon has also remixed tracks