Posts Tagged ‘Kardinal Offishall’

KARDINAL OFFISHALL FEAT. ELEPHANT MAN - Clear

December 20th, 2009

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With over a decade of work behind him, things finally fell into place for Kardinal Offishall on last year’s “Not 4 Sale”, a solid album that sounded like the Black Eyed Peas gone grimey with a Ludacris-styled delivery and attitude. As the Canadian rapper, producer, and dancehall ambassador’s first effort for Akon’s Kon Live label, it benefited from the fat wallet that came with it, making great use of its Platinum guest list - the Rihanna collab “Numba 1″, an aggressive, tribal interpolation of the reggae classic “The Tide Is High”, loitered on the charts for months. The first single from the Kardinal’s upcoming “Mr. International” is “Clear”, which returns to the islands to pick up Elephant Man.

by Mark Emge

AKON FEAT. COLBY O’DONIS & KARDINAL OFFISHALL - Beautiful

May 22nd, 2009

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“When I see you / I run out of words to say,” Akon sings in the opening lines of his love ballad “Beautiful”, and aspiring hitmakers take note: This brilliant couplet lowers lyrical expectations and allows the artist to concentrate on his Auto-Tuned strong points. Namely, letting Colby O’Donis and Kanadian rapper Kardinal Offishall take care of the heavy lifting. This is what business strategists call a “master delegator”. Other tips include using beats from other artists’ tracks (in this case Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone”), and keeping the backing music and lead vocal melody to a minimum, since they take up valuable time and inspiration that could be devoted to, say, designing a fashion line like Konvict Clothing, or taking acting lessons so you can appear in a “CSI” franchise. This man is not a mogul by accident!

by Mark Emge

LADY GAGA FEAT. KARDINAL OFFISHALL - Just Dance

February 27th, 2009

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“The whole song’s about being totally wasted at a party,” Lady GaGa explained the origins of “Just Dance” to Digital Spy. “You’re thinking, ‘Oh f*ck, I wanna go home!’, but your friends are like, ‘Don’t go home you loser, have another beer’, so you do, you dance, and then you’re fine”. The original version of this uplifting tale of perseverance featured a Colby O’Donis cameo. The RedOne mix samples Kardinal Offishall’s “Dangerous” which shares its rhythm and tempo.

by Mark Emge

KARDINAL OFFISHALL FEAT. RIHANNA - Numba 1 (The Tide Is High)

November 28th, 2008

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As reward for winning a talent contest, Canadian hip-hop ambassador Kardinal Offishall’s first performance, at age 12, included Nelson Mandela in the audience! Jason Harrow performed under the moniker KoolAid until finding inspiration in the 17th century French politician Cardinal Richelieu. The first-generation Jamaican descendant’s “Numba 1 (The Tide Is High)” covers The Paragons’ reggae classic.

by Mark Emge

KARDINAL OFFISHALL FEAT. KERI HILSON - Numba 1 (The Tide Is High)

October 10th, 2008

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Jason Harrow, also known as Kardinal Offishall, is often credited as being Canada’s “Hip-Hop ambassador”. Harrow started rapping at the age of eight and was winning competitions and performing for Nelson Mandela just four years later! The Canadian rapper teamed up with American R&B singer-songwriter Keri Hilson for this version of “Numba 1″. There is another version of the single with Rihanna. The single can be found on his fourth studio album “Not 4 Sale”. The album was produced by Akon and was released under Akon’s label Kon Live.

by Victor Caballero

LADY GAGA FEAT. KARDINAL OFFISHALL - Just Dance

October 3rd, 2008

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Stefania Gabriella Germanotta or Lady Gaga has one of the club-bangers of the year with her catchy single “Just Dance”. Stefania is a brand new artist who has just signed her deal with Interscope Records. Her debut album, “The Fame”, has 13 tracks with “Just Dance” being her first single. The official track on the album features Akon’s “secret weapon”, Colby O’Donis. This remix features Canada’s Hip-Hop sensation Kardinal Offishall. The album was produced by Akon and is under his Kon Live label, which is under Interscope. The single is already breaking into the music charts around the world in Canada, France, Germany, New Zeland and Norway. Being that she has such a popular artist, producer and label backing her up, I’m sure we’ll hear much more to come.

KARDINAL OFFISHALL FEAT. AKON & SEAN PAUL - Dangerous

September 5th, 2008

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Kardinal Offishall has had his huge hit, “Dangerous”, remixed. Appearing on the new version are Akon and Sean Paul. Talking about his new album, “Not 4 Sale”, out 9 September, Kardinal Offishall said: “I can only make my music if there is a vibe and a certain energy. So this was an amazing time to record the album because emotionally, I was feeling it. We recorded for a year and in that time I just did everything. I had the most fun recording. This was the best time of my life.” Go to www.kardinaloffishall.com for more.

by Martín Wagmaister