Madchild: ‘Everybody deserves a show’ and a second chance

Times Reporter 

 

Vancouver-based Swollen Members rap artist Madchild is back and this time he’s promoting his first solo album ‘Dope Sick’ which was released late August. 

“For the last year and a half of my sobriety (I’ve) really been focusing on the solo thing, so branding myself as a new artist even though I am veteran with Swollen, and it’s been really fun, it’s been awesome,” said Madchild. 

For about five years Madchild battled a drug addiction with oxycontin, a synthetic substance similar to heroin. 

“I tripped into that drug addiction, you know, it’s like when I started doing Percocets there was no awareness of what it was. I would never have tried heroin because I knew what the effects would have been, but unfortunately I fell into a painkiller addiction that became an epidemic at the beginning stages of it,” said Madchild. 

“There was just no awareness about how serious and dangerous it was. Honestly if there had been awareness in 2006 I would have never tried one if someone had said that’s the same thing as heroin.”

It was after four and a half years of opiate abuse that his body shut down. He had finally hit rock bottom, his drug addiction spiraling so out of control that it took everything the successful emcee had worked so hard for.  

Over the past two years Madchild has cut out all of the negative influences in his life, focusing at first on getting himself healthy, and then once again focusing on his music. 

His album ‘Dope Sick’ was inspired by his drug addiction and his triumph over it all. On Nov. 16 he will be in Strathmore for a show promoting the new album. 

“Everybody deserves a show and I want to do as many shows as possible on this tour. Right now it’s over 40 and I think we’re going to hit 50 shows. I just think everybody deserves a show, not just the big cities, everybody deserves it,” said Madchild about his stop in Strathmore. 

“I don’t know if I am going to become a chart topper but I definitely want to become a very successful independent artist, but just by doing it by staying in my own lane and making my own music and being true to myself and the fans.”

He said there are still people out there that want to hear underground hip-hop and he thinks the key now is consistency with quality. 

His career began as a youth in Vancouver, where he had been freestylin’ all the time when out with friends. One friend who he had always looked up to told him that rapping was what he should do with his life, and so he went for it. 

“Overall I’m glad I did. I did the damage to myself for the last five years and had to get sober and heal mentally, and spiritually and nobody else did that, that’s my own fault. Now that I’m back on track…I just want to be able to look back when I’m finished, when I retire in whatever it is 10 years, maybe longer who knows, I want to be able to look back to my whole body of work and be extremely proud of what I did. I think I’m back on the right track to doing that,” said Madchild.

“I’m not making pop music so I think the level of success that has been achieved already at this point is awesome. I feel like I am kind of doing it my way and staying in my own lane. 

“I sort of learned from trials and errors with Swollen you should just make music for yourself and hope that your fans like it as well. I’ve tried making music for the wrong reasons in the past, whether it was for radio play or to have success. Whenever I tried to do that it backfired, it wasn’t real you know, and I knew it wasn’t real and the fans knew it wasn’t real. I’m very, very strict about just being true to myself now and just making my own art.”

Since its release in August the album ‘Dope Sick’ has sold over 200,000 copies. Madchild with Swollen Members will also be releasing another album in February called  ‘Beautiful Death Machine.’ Madchild has also already written 11 new tracks for his second solo album ‘Super Beast.’

Madchild will be at the MIX on Nov. 16. Tickets are on sale through the club for $25 each.