Kardinal Offishall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kardinal Offishall
Kardinal Offishall in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Jason Drew Harrow
Born	(1976-05-11) May 11, 1976 (age 49) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter record producer disc jockey record executive
Years active	1994–present
Works	Discography production
Labels	In Our Dreams Universal Canada Kon Live Geffen M3 Virgin EMI Music Canada MCA Figure IV Black Stone Colleagues Capitol Hill Knee Deep

Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), known as Kardinal Offishall, is a Canadian rapper and music producer. Many people call him Canada's "hip hop ambassador." He is known for his unique style of hip hop music, which mixes in sounds from reggae and dancehall music.

Kardinal Offishall started his music journey in Toronto in the mid-1990s. He first released his own music, including his album Eye & I (1997) and an EP (which is like a mini-album) called Husslin' (2000). Later, he signed with a big music company, MCA Records. His second album, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 (2001), became popular in Canada. It featured hit songs like "Ol' Time Killin'" and "BaKardi Slang." The song "BaKardi Slang" even helped make Toronto's nickname "T-dot" famous.

After some changes with his music labels, he signed with Akon's record label, KonLive Distribution, in 2007. This led to his fourth album, Not 4 Sale (2008). The main song from this album, "Dangerous" (featuring Akon), became a huge hit. It reached number two in Canada and number five in the United States. This song brought him his biggest success. He also appeared on Akon's popular song "Beautiful" that same year.

Kardinal Offishall later became an independent artist again, meaning he released music on his own. In 2013, he took on a new role as the creative executive director for Universal Music Canada's A&R division. A&R stands for "artists and repertoire," and it means he helps find and develop new music talent. In 2015, he released his fifth album, Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash. In 2021, he was promoted to a senior role at Universal Music Canada, continuing to help new artists.

Biography

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Jason Harrow was born in Scarborough, a part of Toronto, Ontario. His parents came from Jamaica. He grew up in different parts of Toronto. When he was in high school, he would often organize parties at a community center. He also studied Philosophy at York University, but he didn't finish his degree.

Kardinal started rapping when he was just eight years old. By the time he was 12, he was already winning music competitions. At 14, he performed live for the very first time. This special performance was for Nelson Mandela during Mandela's first visit to Toronto in 1990, after he was released from prison. In 1993, Jason decided to change his stage name to "Kardinal Offishall." He was inspired by a famous French politician from the 1600s, Cardinal Richelieu. That same year, he helped start a group of artists called "the Circle." This group included other talented musicians like Choclair and Jully Black. In 1994, he made his first recorded appearance on a song called "Still Caught Up" by Saukrates.

First Album: Eye & I

When Kardinal was 20, he signed a deal with Warner/Chappell Music Canada. In 1996, he released his first song, "Naughty Dread." This song was featured on a popular music collection and earned him a nomination for a Juno Award (a big music award in Canada) for Best Rap Recording. In 1997, Kardinal released his first album, Eye & I. The song "On wit da Show" from this album was played a lot on the music channel MuchMusic.

Music critics really liked the album, saying Kardinal mixed soul, dancehall, reggae, and hip-hop in a new way. However, the album wasn't sold very well across Canada, and radio stations didn't play it much. This meant not many people heard it. In 1998, he was featured on the Juno-winning song "Northern Touch" with other Canadian rappers. The next year, he produced Choclair's popular song "Let's Ride."

New Music and Major Label Deal

Kardinal released an EP called Husslin on April 11, 2000. An EP is a collection of songs, shorter than a full album. The main song, "Husslin'," was very popular. In 2000, Kardinal signed with MCA Records, a major music label. He then released his second album, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1, in 2001. This album had the hit songs "BaKardi Slang" and "Ol' Time Killin'."

The album received good reviews from music critics. It was also nominated for Best Rap Recording at the 2002 Juno Awards. After MCA Records closed down in 2003, Kardinal's next album, Firestarter Vol. 2: The F-Word Theory, was never released. This left him without a music label for a while.

Fire and Glory and Not 4 Sale

In 2004, Kardinal released a free collection of songs called a mixtape titled Kill Bloodclott Bill. He also released his third major-label album, Fire and Glory, on November 15, 2005. This album was released through Virgin Records only in Canada. Popular songs from Fire and Glory included "Everyday (Rudebwoy)" and "Heads Up." Critics praised the album, saying it was even better than his previous one. Fire and Glory was nominated for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2006 Juno Awards.

His fourth album, Not 4 Sale, came out on September 9, 2008. This was his second album released internationally. It was a big success, especially with the song "Dangerous," which became a top 5 hit in the United States. The album itself reached number 40 on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. and number 8 in Canada. Critics gave it good reviews, noting his mix of hip-hop and dancehall. The album won the award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.

Working with Universal Music Canada

In 2008, Kardinal was featured on a remix of Lady Gaga's song "Just Dance." In 2010, he joined many Canadian stars to record a version of "Wavin' Flag" for Young Artists for Haiti. This was to help raise money for disaster relief. He also worked with other artists like Raghav, Audio Playground, and Karl Wolf.

In 2013, Kardinal Offishall joined Universal Music Canada as the Creative Executive Director of A&R. In this role, he helps find and develop new musical talent, not just in Canada but around the world. On October 30, 2015, he released his fifth album, Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash. This album included the popular song "That Chick Right There." In April 2021, he was promoted to a senior vice-president role at Universal Music Canada.

Recent Projects

On June 4, 2019, Kardinal Offishall released the song "Run." This song became the theme song for the Toronto Raptors basketball team during their championship win in the 2019 NBA Finals. It was also announced as the first song from his planned album Pick Your Poison.

In October 2021, it was announced that Kardinal Offishall would be a judge on the second season of Canada's Got Talent, a popular TV show that aired in 2022. He also appeared as himself in an episode of the TV show Run the Burbs.

Personal life

In July 2016, Kardinal Offishall shared the happy news that he had welcomed his third child, a daughter.

Discography

Studio albums

• Eye & I (1997)
• Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 (2001)
• Fire and Glory (2005)
• Not 4 Sale (2008)
• Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash (2015)

Collaborative albums

• A.M.T.R.I.M. with Nottz (2012)

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"
• 2014: Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for "Can't Choose" (with JRDN)
• 2019: Honorary Degree from Humber College

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Kardinal Offishall para niños

• Canadian hip hop
• Music of Canada