guy sucks ..and this song "Everyday (rudebwoy)featuring_ray_robinson" is 50% ripped.. sucks ...
some shit ass notes on this guy
Quote:
Long before Rasta-flavoured red, green and gold wristbands
became a principal fashion accessory, Toronto's most
celebrated emcee Kardinal Offishall has been incorporating
authentic Jamaican vibes into his sonic mix to create his
own unique rap-dancehall hybrid sound since the mid-90's.
Canada's most renowned pure rap export, Kardinal Offishall
has built a portfolio of international production and
recording credits comprised of a virtual Who's Who of
urban music talent. Before multi-platinum reggae crooner
Sean Paul became the toast of the pop charts, Toronto's
Offishall rap ambassador was already penning gold-selling
Juno Award winning singles with him ("Money Jane"). To
date, Kardinal is the only Canadian urban act to appear on
BET's Rap City show (even freestyling in the booth with
Big Tigger), and on MTV's Advance Warning (which
introduces the world to artists on the verge of breaking
big, like former guest Kanye West). When you couple that
with recent collaboration work alongside the Neptunes'
Pharrell Williams ("Grinding" remix, "Bellydancer"), on
recent records by Pete Rock ("We Good"), Method Man ("Baby
Come On"), Akon ("Kill The Dance") and on the blockbuster
movie soundtrack 2 Fast 2 Furious with Disturbing The
Peace's Shawnna ("Block Reincarnated"), it's really not
open to debate-Kardinal is "the people's champ like Lennox
Lewis", as he raps on the title track.
Interestingly, Kardinal earned his industry-wide
international chops the old fashioned way - with dope
beats and sick rhymes. His diction, a deft mix of Jamaican
patois, mixed with Canadian and American slanguage, sounds
so distinctive and dissimilar to any other music out
there... and that's where the Fire comes in.
Kardinal captivated the urban music landscape with his
much feted 2001 record "Firestarter Volume 1: Quest For
Fire" that he licensed to MCA (comprised of older
material) who's sole aim was to introduce the world to
this new artist. It ended up doing that twenty-fold,
spawning video's (the soundclash-styled 'Ol Time Killin')
that received good rotation on BET and high rotation on
Much Music, and hits like 'Bakardi Slang' that became a
way for him to articulate a voice of his generation. On it
he rapped "Yo, we don't say 'you know what I'm sayin'/ T
dot says 'ya dun know'", aiming to export Toronto-speak to
the world, much like Nelly hustled his St. Louis slang
'over thurr.'
Both tracks dominated domestic radio charts, and truly
took his brand and sound international, landing him
successful unsolicited remix offers from Busta Rhymes and
Bounty Killer respectively. Then just as the pop charts,
streets, and record biz boardrooms were awaiting his
official debut in 2003, MCA folded up shop. Then came Kill
Bloodclot Bill-an underground mixtape/response record
recorded by Kardinal in response to the wackness that
plagued the music biz. In true Kardinal fashion, this
release ended up copping top honors from Canada's largest
alternative weekly Now Magazine, voted in as the #1 CD on
the highly influential 2004 Top Toronto Discs chart
beating out bands like Death From Above 1979 and Broken
Social Scene.
Despite the flurry of activity and accolades that have
followed Kardinal around since the late 90's, for the
record, Fire and Glory is his debut release of new music.
"Fire and Glory describes what my life's been like for the
last few years," explains the multiple Juno Award winning
emcee (e.g. Northern Touch) and last year's winner of the
UMAC (Urban Music Association of Canada) Reggae Recording
of the Year "Empty Barrel" featuring Blessed. "You have to
walk through the fire, to get to the glory. Having your
ex-label dissolve, and then trying to get a priority
release on Geffen/Interscope with Jadakiss and Eminem in
the picture means my eyes are wide open now."
Part of what makes Kardinal so, well, official with pop
music lovers is that he's honored and adored by scholars,
critics, thugs, runway models and everything in between.
This breadth is reflected on his Fire and Glory
breakthrough. It kicks off with that same strong Yardie
undercurrent that has always run through his music (dating
back from Beat Factory Rap Essentials' "Naughty Dread").
'Last Standing Soldier' is a next-level song that takes
you into this rarefied place where bass heavy rocksteady
reggae successfully merges with hip hop. 'Everybody Gone
Gangsta' is a killer track featuring Jamaican dancehall
phenom Bounty Killers protégé Vybez Cartel annihilating
the digitized backing riddim. While many emcee's avoid
honest conversations about life in Canada Kardinal does
not, that's actually his calling card, keeping things
real. The uber emcee lets listeners know "wha gwaan"
(Jamaican patois for "what's going on"), on the street
anthem 'Heads Up,' a battle rap-like, wake-up call for
emcee's that dishonor the microphone. On the first verse
he bold-facedly rhymes: "all the shuckin' and jivin' is
over, I'm the chosen soldier...I need paper for the style
that I loaned ya... I'm one-of-a-kind like side gills on a
Rover/first name J but ain't similar to Hova."
'Everyday Rudebwoy,' an interpolation of Arrested
Development's Grammy winning single Everyday People (which
was originally recorded by Sly and the Family Stone in
1969) is one of the radio single's that is sure to cement
Kardinal's position as a legitimate cross-over Canadian
artist. "I've always loved Arrested's version of it," he
explains on why he chose that particular song to cover. "I
think people will appreciate the unique twist I put on it.
I made it sound even more feel good with vocalist Ray
Robinson, and then I touch on some real issues that some
communities have to deal with, like police harassment, and
men taking ownership of their children and relationship
scenarios."
This time around, not only has Kardinal put together his
own best, big league sonic backdrops (Fire and Glory is
largely self-produced, remember, he's a Juno Award winning
producer for Choclair's gold selling "Let's Ride"), but
he's also compiled some dynamic collaborators, artists he
calls friends, to further boost his global chart
positioning. 'Mr. Officer' features Renee Neufville (ex of
gold-selling American R&B duo Zhane) crooning roots
reggae-styled lyrics over a sweet Ro Dolla riddim. It's
one of two musicals matches made in heaven on Fire and
Glory because, as Kardinal explains: "Renee is Jamaican
and she says musically this is the first time she'd ever
really gotten an opportunity to express that part of her
culture in her music. People understand when Jenny Lopez
says she's Puerto Rican, loves her culture and is repping
that. Same goes for Fat Joe. I'm just doing the same
because the way my family raised me is very influenced by
Jamaica. I associate much quicker with ackee and saltfish,
than I do with eggs and bacon. I'll take hard dough over
white bread any day. It's natural to have my culture
reflect in my music. Busta Rhymes is one of the first guys
I've heard be proud of his heritage too." Busta Rhymes
guests and goes all out on 'Watchalike,' and as many
pundits have said, he's the only other emcee in hip hop
who matches Kardinal's rawness, intensity and energy.
I used to be into it, but now just stupid, I can't understand 1/2 of the shit those people try to say, they can't even spell on MSN for ****'s sake. Funny how rock music used to be called the devil's music and I always thought it's pure red-neck-ish, but now I think its great.
it's got everything rap has, sex, drugs, alcohol, except the part where they promote violence. Hell, I love partying, sure as hell don't wanna get shot.
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Kardinal Offishall - Fire And Glory
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