On what he conveyed by having his mother and father’s voices on the song “God” “I think the message there is, yes, liberation to be who you are, to try things, to fail,” he says, “and I think also liberation from this obsession in our society with achievement.” While there are limits to that - not everyone will walk on the moon or win an Olympic gold medal - it’s about offering what you can uniquely contribute to the world, he says.
“What I was taught was that average means that, practically speaking, you can do anything,” he says. He pushes against the negative connotations around being average. At its core, he believes rejecting exceptionalism coincides with the freedom to be fully yourself. It's what his parents wanted for him when they moved from East Africa to Canada. In his personal life, Shad has said he’d be happy if his daughter were average. It's really a beautiful thing and a microcosm for what all of society should be.” “I love being a part of a festival lineup or even a regular concert lineup where all the artists are different, and they're sharing what they have to offer,” he says. Music should be about tapping into one’s individuality as an artist and inspiring listeners, he says. And while Shad, who CBC Music named the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time, wants to create good music, it’s not about rising to the top, he says.
