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MADCHILD comes to Alberni

MADCHILD performs at the Argyle Showroom Tuesday (Nov. 1). Tix: $20 ($40 for VIP meet and greet package) at the Showroom, 5251 Argyle St.
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Madchild

Madchild has had a crazy couple of years.

A founding member of Vancouver-based Swollen Members, the hip-hop artist was on a kamikaze run with the drug OxyContin when he hit rock bottom.

Following a scary night in the emergency ward and a stint in rehab, he’s back with some fresh material and a new perspective on clean living.

Madchild brings his Dope Sick tour to the Argyle Showroom in South Port, on Thursday, Nov. 1.

He promises it will be “an intimate show, with lots of energy, lots of fun.”

Dope Sick was released Aug. 28 and within 12 hours it shot to the top of the iTunes Canada album chart—for all genres, not just hip hop.

Several tracks, are already getting a lot of play, like Devil’s Reject, Monster, Mongoloid, Freak and Reaper. Madchild delivers them all with his trademark high-pitched sound.

He can’t remember which song was the first he wrote for Dope Sick, but said Wake Up was written while going through “the trials and tribulations. Everything else was done while I’ve been living normal.”

If one song could represent a war cry as Madchild enters this new phase of his creative career, he says it would be Out of My Head, which includes the lyrics “I’m staying away from dope and sewing up my game.”

“I think it’s an apology and it’s a war cry,” he said.

Madchild pokes fun at himself in some of his tracks, and his dark wit stands out in others.

He’s brutally honest (and explicit) about the four and a half years of opiate use that landed him in the hospital and in hot water with American officials (he’s currently banned from entering the United States).

“I don’t blame what’s happened to me on anyone but me,” he said. “I have no anger toward anyone. I made my bed, and now I have to change the sheets.”

Approaching his second full year of sobriety, Madchild is focusing on his music—something he lost to his addiction.

“I do believe in time I will paint a new picture of how I’m viewed by the public,” he said.

Once he’s finished with this tour, Madchild will be back at it with Swollen Member once their new album, Beautiful Death Machine, is released.

Ghost and DJ Dow Jones will perform along with Madchild at the Argyle.

Fellow Canadian hip-hop artist Matt Brevner will perform his own set as well as with Madchild in Jitters, off the Dope Sick track.

editor@albernivalleynews.com