Kardinal Offishall

Kardinal Offishall
Kardinal Offishall at eTalk in 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Jason D. Harrow
Born	May 12, 1976 (1976-05-12) (age 35)
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Canadian hip hop, Dancehall
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1994-present
Labels	MCA Records, Kon Live Distribution, Geffen Records
Associated acts	Akon, Black Jays, Sean Paul, Colby O'Donis

Jason D. Harrow^[1] (born May 12, 1976),^[2] better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (pronounced /kɑrdɨˈnæl oʊfɨˈʃæl/),^[3] is a Canadian rapper and record producer. He is often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", and is best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip-hop.^[4][5]

Life and career

Harrow was born in Scarborough, Ontario,^[6][7] in Toronto's east end, and raised by Jamaican immigrant parents. From the ages of 2 to 13, he lived in the city's Flemingdon Park neighbourhood. He moved back to Scarborough for two years, before finally settling in Oakwood–Vaughan, in the city's west end.^[8][9][10] While in high school, he would throw parties at the Alexandra Park Community Centre.^[9]

He started rapping at the age of eight and was winning competitions by the time he was 12. Also at the age of 12, he performed live and on stage for the first time, with Nelson Mandela in attendance during Mandela's first visit to Toronto.^[11] By 1993, he decided to change his alias "KoolAid", and went by the moniker "Kardinal Offishall" after being inspired by the great 17th century French politician Cardinal Richelieu.^[12]

Kardinal was signed to a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music Canada at the age of 20.^{[citation needed]} In 1996, he released his first single "Naughty Dread", which was featured on the Rap Essentials Volume One compilation and earned him a Juno Award nomination for Best Rap Recording. In 1997, Kardinal released his debut album Eye & I on Capitol Hill Music. The only single from the album, "On wit da Show", had considerable video play on MuchMusic. In 1998, he was featured on the Juno-winning single "Northern Touch" with the Rascalz, Choclair, Checkmate and Thrust.

In 2000, Kardinal signed with MCA Records. He released the album Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 in 2001, which spawned the hits "BaKardi Slang" and "Ol' Time Killin'". After MCA folded in 2003, Kardinal's highly anticipated follow up album Firestarter Vol. 2: The F-Word Theory was shelved along with the single/video for "Belly Dancer" featuring Pharrell, and Kardinal eventually found himself without a label. Had the album been released, there would have been production from Timbaland and The Neptunes, among others. He released an independent mixtape titled Kill Bloodclott Bill in 2004 with his production company, Black Jays, and he also released his second major-label album titled Fire and Glory on November 15, 2005, through Virgin Records in Canada only. Hits on Fire and Glory include "Everyday (Rudebwoy)" and "Heads Up".

In 2007, Akon signed Kardinal Offishall to his label Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution. In 2008, he released the album Not 4 Sale. It spawned the hit single "Dangerous", which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2010, he was included in the Young Artists for Haiti's version of "Wavin' Flag" in an effort to raise money for disaster relief. He starred along with many Canadian stars. Also in 2010, he was featured in Raghav's single "So Much".

Discography

Main articles: Kardinal Offishall discography and Kardinal Offishall production discography

Studio albums

• Eye & I (1997)
• Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 (2001)
• Fire and Glory (2005)
• Not 4 Sale (2008)
• Mr. International (2011)

EPs

• Husslin' (2000)

Awards

• 1999: Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for Rascalz' "Northern Touch"
• 2000: Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for producing Choclair's "Let's Ride"
• 2000: SOCAN Award for "Husslin'"
• 2001: MuchMusic Video Award - Best Rap Video for "Money Jane"
• 2002: SOCAN Award for "Money Jane"
• 2004: Canadian Urban Music Award for "Empty Barrel"
• 2006: 3 MuchMusic Video Awards - Best Video, Best Director (RT!) and VideoFACT Award for "Everyday (Rudebwoy)"
• 2009: Juno Award for Single of the Year for "Dangerous"; Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for Not 4 Sale
• 2009: SOCAN Urban Music Award for "Dangerous"

See also

	Music of Canada portal
	Hip hop portal

• Canadian hip hop
• Music of Canada

References

1. ^ "MTV". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/lyrics/offishall_kardinal/money_jane_remix/2289979/lyrics.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
2. ^ Kardinal Offishall > Overview Allmusic. Accessed on November 16, 2009.
3. ^ "Red Bull Music Academy". Red Bull Music Academy. http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/video-archive/transcript/kardinal_offishall__its_official/transcript. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
4. ^ "Billboard". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=390263. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
5. ^ "XXL Magazine". Xxlmag.com. http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=1477. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
6. ^ "Whaddat?". Whaddat.com. http://www.whaddat.com/miccheck/kardi.html. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
7. ^ McKinnon, Matthew (2005-03-22). "CBC". Cbc.ca. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/canadianhiphop.html. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
8. ^ Kardinal Offishall [Interview] HipHopCanada. Accessed on January 22, 2011.
9. ^ ^{a b} Kardi's Second Key 2 The City CHARTattack. Accessed on January 22, 2011.
10. ^ Mike Ross (2006-02-17). "Jam! Showbiz". Jam.canoe.ca. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/O/Offishall_Kardinal/2006/02/17/1447418.html. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
11. ^ "Montreal Mirror". Montreal Mirror. 1997-02-27. http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/1997/022797/music1.html. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
12. ^ "Exclaim". Exclaim.ca. http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=4483. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 

External links

• Official website
• Kardinal Offishall on Myspace
• Kardinal Offishall's channel on YouTube
• Kardinal Offishall on Twitter
• Kardinal Offishall interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' February 2009
• Rhapsody Interview
• Border Block - Canadian Hip Hop vs. America
• Much Music
• MMVA Awards
• Interview with DJ Stallion
• Kardinal's KonvictMuzik.net page
• Kardinal Offishall on Flow.TV
• Kardinal Offishall Spits 16 Bars in Studio - AOL Music
• Kardinal Offishall RBMA video lecture session

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Date of birth	May 12, 1976
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