Photo by Philippe Nguyen

The video for Montreal rapper Mike Shabb’s new single “Hesitate” might be the last known recording of a true-blue pre-quarantine house party. In the clip, revelers flex to the camera in glorious, maskless proximity, puffing on joints and flashing Canadian currency. The way Shabb tells it, it was as fun to make as it is to watch. “I invited all my boys and we just filmed it. Everybody knew the song at that point,” he said. He and director MOB shot the clip on Shabb’s actual birthday in early February which no doubt aided the party atmosphere.

In a time of surging American COVID cases, a video of an indoor house party might seem like a slap in the face to debauchery-hungry viewers, but Shabb says that now is the perfect time to release something like that. “It’s refreshing for people to see that. ‘Oh, I remember that time where we could all gather around without wearing masks and shit.’ It is a great way to reminisce,” he said of the timing of the video’s release. 

All of this belies the point that “Hesitate” absolutely slaps. Shabb shows off his impressive vocal range as he goes from a deep baritone to a warbling falsetto within a few bars. His melodic acrobatic rapping, akin to Young Thug and Playboi Carti at their most subdued, skips like a stone over the hazy beat. Shabb produced the song himself and his minimalist approach is surprisingly effective. He spins gold out of the otherwise rote drum sounds, turning his syncopated kicks and claps into an alien bounce through sheer force of will. 

Emerging out of the Montreal scene, Shabb worked tirelessly to set himself apart from his peers. Making his own beats was one way but his decision to rap in English was the real departure. Shabb learned the language by listening to American rappers like Wu-Tang Clan and Notorious B.I.G. when he was a teenager and had only spoken French at home. But in a local scene dominated by French influence, he was an odd man out even as born and bred Quebecoise. “We got big French rappers but we don’t have any big English rappers,” Shabb said.