WORLD EXCLUSIVE
Kardinal Offishal was born May 11th 1976.
For the past 8 years, Kardi has rocked shows in his native Toronto. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Hip Hop from 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Timberland, Akon and The Clipse. He’s even rocked the stage with Jay-Z and toured with 50 Cent.
His first album was very well recieved and gathered critical acclaim. However label trouble prevented him from releasing another album until now. 2008 is going to be his year. Its exiciting times for the veteran. He has signed a deal with Akon’s Konvict Music imprint and the first single ‘Dangerous’ already has America buzzing.
In this WORLD EXCLUSIVE interview, Kardinal Offishal speaks to The Hip Hop Chronicle about his new album, where the name Kardinal Offishal came from, why the UK is his second home and he tells us about an incident involving Estelle and some rum punch.
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Kardinal was always around music, even as a young child. At the age of 12, he was performing in front of Nelson Mandela. He’s first memories of music however were at the age of four and it his parent’s music. ‘My first memories of music would probably just being a little kid at the basement parties that my family used to have’.
As a youngster Kardinal had the nickname ‘Little Man’. It was a name given to him by members of his family to symbolise how mature and intelligent he was for his age. ‘The whole reason why my family left Jamaica and came over to North America … we had a lot of teachers that were in the family so before I started Kindergarten … I used to get taught at home so I was very intelligent at a young age as my mom and aunties used to tell me … I used to watch the news and comment on a lot of stuff that was well beyond my years.
Now this intelligent ‘Little Man’ has now become a humble gentleman who has become official and he needed a name to signal this change. ‘A boy in a history class and as the teacher was teaching, I was plotting and scheming to take over the world of Hip Hop music and I definitely wanted a moniker that no matter where I went, nobody else … on the day I came up with it, we were learning about a dude by the name of Cardinal Richelieu and I just took the Kardinal from that and everything I do is official but I wanted to make sure people said with a certain swag … and that’s how the name is born’.
‘When you start to do shows … and you get to see what a good time they are having … it was a kind of rush you never want to get rid of’
- Kardinal On Touring
But it was fans that really made him to Hip Hop seriously. ‘When you start to do shows …and you get to see the reaction that they have … and you get to see what a good time they are having … it was a kind of rush you never want to get rid of, you never want to lose’.
Kardinal’s first album ‘Eye & I’ was met with great acclaim. It was an album to signal to the world of Hip Hop that Kardinal had certainly arrived. But his label MCA Records went into liquidation, which meant Kardinal, was searching for a label and couldn’t put out an album. But what was remarkable was the buzz he maintained through mixtape and remixes. Jumping on The Clipse’s ‘Grindin’ and ‘Belly Dancer’ made fans aware that he was still here. While others falter away never to be heard again, the Toronto native stayed relevant and he puts it down to his attitude. ‘It’s the drive and the perseverance … for me its about how bad you want your dream to become a reality and that’s how come I’ve been able to be on everything. I don’t believe in no, I don’t believe in never, I don’t believe in cant or isn’t possible … I really believe more than a mental thing than anything’.
‘People were like ‘yo I can really identify with that … Im not for sale’
- Kardinal On How He Came Up With The Album Title
Now the artist is gearing towards his new album and first on Konvict Music entitled ‘Not For Sale’. Before his deal with Akon, he was courted by the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z. While it will seem a provocative title, Kardinal tell us it the concept originated from a T-Shirt. ‘I went to the t-shirt shop … and I seen this barcode and then another shirt that said ‘Not For Sale so what I did was I just put the two together … I took the barcode and Not For Sale actual font and put on the t-shirt and everywhere I went when I was travelling around the world, people were like ‘yo I really identify with that … I’d love to wear it to work and show my boss …I’m not for sale’. I would see a female and they’d be like ‘I want to wear that and show my boyfriend’ … the light bulb went off … I’ve always felt that I’m not for sale with my music … but everybody can relate to it’.
‘Something thats going to make them fall in love with Hip Hop’
- Kardinal Offishal On His New Album; ‘Not For Sale’
But the deal with Interscope/Konvict Music has Kardinal buzzing. He’s finally back to what he does best, making music. And for the new album, putting it together was a really fun. He got to travel the world. A lot of the material was recorded on the road and he got to visit cities like Vancouver, Atlanta, Miami and work with fantastic producers. According to Kardinal, the album will fill a void. ‘ …Something that’s gonna make you sweat, something that’s not gonna make them be able to sit still or stand still, something its gonna make them rush and tell all their friends, something that going to make them fall in love with Hip Hop and fall in love with creativity and being innovative. This album right here, I want it to present something that I grew up on, this is a culmination of my favourite artists … that I ever looked up to’.
‘We wanted to make them know the calibre of artist that I really am’
- Kardinal on why he chose ‘Dangerous’ as the first single
Now the first single off ‘Not For Sale’ is the track ‘Dangerous’ featuring Akon. Right now its one of the top songs in the culture and it has a fantastic summer vibe. Unlike the title of the album, with this track, Kardinal is making a statement. He has chosen Dangerous as the first single to display his versatility as an artist. ‘We wanted to go with Dangerous because … I’ve always been critically acclaimed [people] ‘oh Kardinal he’s this outstanding emcee from Toronto whatever whatever…but its different when your trying to go from that critically acclaimed artist to somebody that is able to really penetrate the mainstream … so the reason between myself and Akon, we wanted to make them know the calibre of artist that I really am and we needed a song that was able to stand up against anything, against any number one song in the world’.
Kardinal comes across as an artist who likes to enjoy the music he makes. He won’t force music, if there’s vibe, he’ll make a hot track. One particular artist he likes working with is UK artist Estelle. The two recently worked on her album ‘Shine’. Kardinal is quick to point out that Estelle is family like the Black Jays (a movement which consists of Kardinal’s peoples, in fact Estelle is part of Black Jay’s International).
‘she writes a song … 20 minutes flat’
- Kardinal On Estelle’s work ethic
The two who have known each other for over 8 years share a similar work ethic. ‘We also have the same work ethic because when she writes a song … 20 minutes flat! She’s in there and in the booth and that’s kinda how I work’.
But no only do they have a great work ethic, the also have a lot of fun in the studio. One such session involved Estelle tasting Kardinal’s famous Rum Punch. ‘The next time you talk to her in a interview, ask her about the rum punch’.
But the Canadian artist also has a love for the UK. He has appeared on a number of tracks with UK artists most notably with Lethal Bizzle and his track ‘Pow’, which tore up the club scene. He calls the UK his second home because he sees a lot of similarities in the struggles both people from Canada and the UK have.
‘I was talking to Sway this morning…we got through similar struggles, I think as Black artists in our own country and secondly as Hip Hop artists … like there are a lot of barriers that are put up in both country’s, so I relate to the struggle that the UK emcee’s go through … when they properly try to represent the home team but sometimes they feel like they are not getting everything … all the accolades that they deserve … the payment, the recognition … every time I come to the UK, the people support me to the fullest, they have always definitely been a big mark on my career’.
‘If your an asshole, the music thing can magnify that’
- Kardinal on the bad things of the music industry
According to Kardinal, upcoming artists need to have the mental strength. ‘This music industry if your not a strong person with a strong mentality and a strong …. (Sighs) …I’m sorry forgive me, a VERY shapely girl just walked by that just blew my concentrate’.
Talk about having a strong mentality! LOL.
But lapse was momentarily and the emcee went on to tell me that the music industry can change alot of people, to a point where they are lost. ‘If you are an asshole, then the music thing can magnify that’.
But the music industry hasn’t just changed the artists, its also changed governments. A few years ago, an Indie label owner Jerome Almon sued the Canadian government for profiling his artists. Its something that Kardinal believes has happened. ‘If I didn’t have this celebrity face, they would give me a hard time, every time. The Canadian boarder is one of the worst in the world trust me’.
‘They’ve helped keep me relevent, they’ve helped keep the buzz’
- Kardinal on mixtape DJ’s
But we got back to music and we the recent outburst by Lil Wayne towards certain mixtape DJ’s, I asked Kardinal how important DJ’s such as Clinton Sparks, DJ Mick Boogie and Green Lantern have been for him. ‘They’ve helped keep me relevant, they’ve helped keep the buzz … the one thing though about me and these DJ’s … the ones you see me doing stuff with, most of the time, those are my people’s, those are my friends so we vibe musically, its not just a business thing’.
The one thing Kardinal Offishal loves about Hip Hop is that it’s ‘forever changing’.
But what wont change is the love and respect that he receives from fans across the world. Speaking to him, its not hard to understand why he has that respect. He’s real, makes a lot of sense and has a great sense of humour.
His album ‘Not For Sale’ is being released in August and The Hip Hop Chronicle would like to wish Kardinal Offishal the best for the album and everything he does.
He’s a gentleman, a pleasure to speak to and more importantly a dope emcee.
Kardinal is Not For Sale but he’s certainly Offishal.
Dangerous ft Akon (Video)
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=kFeaqB-AAMo]
