“Before He Was A Konvict…”
AUDIO By TSSCrew on April 18, 2009 at 6:25 pmWords By Prop Jay
During his younger years, Kardinal was a beast on the mic. Recently, he has seemingly gone the way of the dollar sign and has fallen from the high regard that I once held him in. In 2008, he released what could have been an album full of hits as he finally had a real financial backing. Instead, he deviated towards stylings that might be regarded as “Konvict Music.” Beyond these statements I don’t want to even discuss anything he has done post-2005.
The song above was an example of a hidden gem on his sophmore release from 2001, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1. Overall, the song got a moderate amount of love from Canada’s Rap City. But we only have 32 million people up here and sometimes I feel like only 10,000 would even listen to rap anyways. As a result, the album and this song remained buried. Kardinal here is in his prime, and brings a reggae element to his rap game which always adds distinction to the music he chooses to produce, on the mic & behind the boards.
Here he speaks of his troubles “tryin to sign a deal” with shady record labels and on to his views on life and “how he’s trying to do the best he can do” with what he’s got on the streets of his hometown of Toronto. To top this track off Glenn Lewis, another Toronto resident, provides a smooth sound to the hook and facilitates Kardinal’s messages by setting the tone for the track right away during the intro. Kardinal has made a lot of good music over the years, but since he is Canadian he is judged upon the countries ill-deserved poor reputation at the rap game. Stiil, I will save that post for another time. This track is just a sample of an overall better than average album.
Kardinal Offishall Feat. Glenn Lewis – “G Walkin”
Previously Posted — Kardinal Offishall - “Nina” Video | Kardinal Offishall - “Numba 1 (Tide Is High)” Video | “Bring The Fire Out” - Review Of Kardinal Offishall’s Not 4 Sale | TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Kardinal Offishall
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Posted in AUDIO, GENERAL, LOOSIES, MUSIC, STRAY SHOTS — Tags: Glenn Lewis, Kardinal Offishall, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1
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13 Comments
Speaking of Glenn Lewis anybody got a high quality mp3 rip of’ ‘House On The Beach’?
yeah kardinal fell the fuck off…hard (pause) he was never the best or even close, but he used to make some rugged shit
^^mos def..quest for Firstarter vol1 was super dope thoughout
House on a Beach
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5161879036c46179/
Kardi came out pretty hard on his first joint, but fell the fuck off like sherm said. Dude came with a pretty good flow and seemed to be hungry. Hopefully he can redeem himself on future projects. Dude has dope delivery and demands attention when he spits. I appreciated his clever rhymes and rude boy style. Shit turned into a hot mess when he started fuckin with Akon though. Pretty lame how he switched up his steelo when he went the way of a R&B label.
BTW…That Housing Authority Mixtape is pretty aiight as well..
GREAT write up Prop,
Being a Canuck myself one thing you were raised into with hip-hop was KArdinal, and when he hit that mainstream bump about a decade ago we saw potentially our best chance at hitting commercial success south of the 49.
He did, but for all the wrong reasons… I myself rated No Said Date, but not all of it was what he’s capable of which was a great dissapointment for his true fans.
Don’t get me wrong though, Love Kardi for giving music to grow up to, and i’m proud he’s struck it “big” (Such a term can’t really be used anymore given sales, what is big?) but I wish this showed back up.
That track on the Chester French mixtape was pretty ill tho.
Anyways thanks for the sick post and awesome memories.
*Bumps Bakardi Slang*
@NDiamonds, thank you very much indeed! :)
Glen Lewis is slept on. He is a talented cat
Anyone have the observe and report soundtrack.
“In 2008, he released what could of been an album full of hits”
…………………..
could “have”
i visit frequently but i don’t really post here. but c’mon TSS
you’re better than that!
Prop Jay: Writing game = serious (so far) ; grammar game = not so much…
^^lol my grammar game neads da werk! - i know this is spelt wrong - I didn’t know the police were out though. Sorry boys and girls it will be better. TSS is better than that!!!
HEAVY TALENT FROM T.O…………i wish Kardi could come back like that.
song is hot