ShaqIsDope hails from Toronto’s St. James Town neighborhood, an area with the most dense concentration of high rise buildings in the city’s core. Born Shaquille Baptiste, the 23-year-old rapper’s new mixtape deals with downtown life, balancing temptations with moral and spiritual obligations.
Black Frames is a 12-track ode to staying focused. The project boasts inspirational anthems (“Wraith Dreamz”), introspective cuts (“Sipp’n Liquor”), and street chronicles (“Innocent Youth”), but at its core, this tape is about determination. On “Stay Focused,” ShaqIsDope aims to take his own advice, internalizing a filtered R&B hook: “I’m trying to make a way, I know you know this, notice/Stay up out the streets, and just stay focused/They gon’ try to pull you down/Remember that you gotta stay focused.”
Frigid trap vibes intersect with twisted samples and warm, organic instrumentation via production from FrancisGotHeat, Pitt Tha Kid, and more on Black Frames. ShaqIsDope finds a way to elevate every instrumental, whether it’s with rapid-fire bars, or an impressive melodic run.
“It’s been two years of trial and error creating this project,” ShaqIsDope told Complex. “Every song on this project is like a picture of my life, and this is me putting frames around those pictures and getting closure.” Stream Black Frames below and catch ShaqIsDope in Toronto at the Opera House on April 29th opening for Ty Dolla $ign as part of Red Bull Sound Select.
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