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KARDINAL OFFISHALL
Firestarter Vol. 1: Quest For Fire
The most common phrase uttered by rap artists today is: I’m taking hip-hop to the next level. But Kardinal Offishall (a.k.a. Jason Harrow) has no need to make this affirmation he hears it enough from people around him. Fans, the media, and established artists such as DJ Premier, Method Man and Pharoahe Monch, have all proclaimed that this 24-year-old MC/producer from Toronto (better known as the T-dot) has raised the hip-hop stakes and will continue to set them higher. I don’t want to change hip-hop in tangible ways, like making my beats a certain way, Kardinal explains. I want to change people’s thought processes and create an energy that floods people’s systems when they think of hip-hop. I want to bring some meaning and consciousness back to the music, but I also want to bring back that energy and drive that inspires people. Notorious for his sharp-tongued wit and unadulterated vitality, Kardinal’s lyrical skills have pushed him to the forefront of hip-hop. Check the resumé: His finesse for writing emerged at age 10, performance anxiety hasn’t been a threat for over 13 years (a childhood highlight includes performing for Nelson Mandela), and he’s since shared stages across North America and overseas with the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Gangstarr, Outkast and The Roots. In ’93, Kardinal formed The Circle, a collection of like-minded artists and musicians that includes fellow T-dot natives Choclair and Saukrates. Demonstrating that they weren’t just your typical oversized crew of rappers, a production company called Silver House And the Girl (S.H.A.G.) emerged with Kardinal (who’s been working behind the boards for over nine years) taking the reigns. S.H.A.G.’s mind-blowing beats, which range from eerie classical to thunderous street anthems, helped the first album they produced (Choclair’s Ice Cold) reach gold status in five weeks. After years of struggling at the independent level, Kardinal achieved his childhood dream of signing with a major label he joined the MCA roster in August 2000. And to prove his long-term commitment to his fans, Kardinal plans to release a series of albums entitled Firestarter. His decision to create a body of work that’s inherently connected was inspired by the longevity of rap legends EPMD. The first installment, Firestarter Volume 1: Quest for Fire, will hit the streets this spring. Volume 1 is the match that’s going to ignite the fire, he says. I concentrated on creating solid tunes and didn’t make any album fillers, so this will be an introduction to all the different sides and sounds of me. Quest for Fire’s blazing first single, BaKardi Slang, draws heavily from Kardinal’s West Indian background and is an introduction to the T-dot lingo (complete with humerous slang translations). All of the West Indian and Caribbean influence is in my music because of my family and because of Toronto’s cultures. The reason why I get hype is because when you perform in Toronto, if you’re not hype, you’re getting booed. I’m trying to exemplify all the things I know and have learnt in this city. It’s a T-dot thing. Powerful, an infectious, futuristic electro-synth groove featuring The Circle’s Tara Chase and Jully Black, captures Kardinal’s vision for his musical genre to Encode the funk mode and claim back the sound. He explains: I want to convey how much power we, the hip-hop community, have and how powerful we could be. His diversity as an MC/producer is further demonstrated by contrasting the high-powered Husslin’ or hilarious U R Ghetto When with his thought-provoking meditations on the uplifting G Walkin’. Firestarter Volume 1 is just the tip of the iceberg for Kardinal. But he’s confident that it’ll only take this album to prove why so many associate the idea of Taking it to the next level with his name. Clichéd rap phrases aside, Kardinal has proven time and time again that he’s not just a rap artist he’s also a major player in the movement that’ll be setting the new standards for hip-hop.
