Spotlight on Kardinal Offishall!
Kardinal Offishall speaks to Aries from UrbanBridgez.com on his huge hit "Dangerous," working with Akon, the difference between him and other MC's and more!
Kardinal Offishall: I think the best part is to be able to reach different people around the world. Like opening the eyes of others to my music, which I've been doing for awhile now. I have access now to those people and it's been a great tool for them to learn who I am as an artist.
UrbanBridgez.com: Tell me about your album artwork, what does the cover represent?
Kardinal Offishall: Well to describe it for those that may have not seen it yet. It's a close up picture of me, in Army face with a helmet on. It represents to me to be like the last Solider standing! Like in my music, like my CD to me is dope. It's not just the single that makes it dope. It's the full body of work, it's not a singles album, meaning the whole album is worth checking out. In recent years people have really taken the focus off of the albums and put them just on the singles. Like with iTunes, it's like I'm the last Solider. I worked hard on the album.
UrbanBridgez.com: Talk to us about the album, what was the best part about recording it?
Kardinal Offishall: All the freedom I had when recording it was without a doubt the best part. Most artist don't have freedom like that. Second was Akon and having access to him. He's a great resource. As far as knowing which tracks to use and really having a good ear for good music. It's just good to have him on my team.
UrbanBridgez.com: Any favorite tracks on the album and what's the next single?
Kardinal Offishall: People ask me that all the time. I don't think it's fair to single one track out. I really can't even think of one track that just stands out to me though. All the songs are really different. But... If I have to say one (laughs). I would say "Go Home With You" with T-Pain. The reason for that is T-Pain got a million hooks on different artists songs, but on this song his hook really stands out. It's really different, just the way he delivered it, makes it really unique. I've never heard him like that before on a track. The next single is "Tide is High."
UrbanBridgez.com: How did you sign with Akon, what's the story behind that?
Kardinal Offishall: Me and Akon have been really cool for a bunch of years. I've always performed around the glob and he just reached out to me one day. I flew to Atlanta and we just kicked it. He sat me down and explained his vision for me and I believed in him and here we are.
UrbanBridgez.com: You're currently doing tour dates and appearances, how has the performing been going?
Kardinal Offishall: Aww man! It's been crazy! This summer as a whole was just crazy. I mean I did so many shows, we shut down 106! We did Rap City and smashed it, we got mad props for that. TRL, was the same thing, it was all just so dope man. I say it's crazy because one hit song gave me all that exposure.
UrbanBridgez.com: What makes you different than other MC's out right now?
Kardinal Offishall: I think just me, makes me different. Nobody else is an extension of me. Nobody else has walked the same path as me. There isn't another artist out from Toronto (laughs). I mean it's like people may think they have an idea of what it's like there. If they come on some disrespect, we have no problem stomping a hole in they ass! I think my work has paid off and that separates me from other MC's right now. There has never been a #1 MC from Toronto on the charts in Billboard. It's never been done. So I'm different from a lot of other MC's.
UrbanBridgez.com: Who's in your iPod right now?
Kardinal Offishall: Bob Marley, NAS, Solange, Fonzworth Bentley, David Banner, The Game, Kids In The Hall and Raphael Saadiq.
UrbanBridgez.com: UrbanBridgez.com: Any last words for your fans?
Kardinal Offishall: Well never last words, I'm not about to get shot (laughs). I wanna show love to the whole Konvict crew. The chips were against us but we're doing it. It's like my first CD didn't sell much, T-Pain's didn't sell much the first time around, but we're doing our thing now. We still got a lot to overcome and more success to gain. I don't think we get enough props within the industry at this point yet. So with that, I want to thank the fans who have been supportive and say keep buying the album and supporting the singles! Much love.
