With over 30 years in the music industry, Toronto-born rapper Kardinal Offishall reflects on his career milestones, his new album and opens up about the realities of becoming a successful artist.
Starting his music career after high school, the music pioneer first gained recognition in 1996 when he released his first single “Naughty Dread.”
Since, he’s had numerous successful tracks featuring big international names such as Keri Hilson, T-Pain, Sean Paul and Akon. He also made history with his 2008 hit “Dangerous” with Akon, becoming the first Canadian rapper to reach the top five of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
In addition to his career as a rapper, Kardinal Offishall is a music producer, television personality – joining Canada’s Got Talent as a judge in 2021 – and record executive, achieving a historic milestone as Universal Music Canada’s first Black senior vice-president of A&R.
Kardinal Offishall tells The Brandon Gonez Show that he attributes his successes and achievements in his life to his faith, something that he holds deeply that’s helped him combat fear.
“We think about you know, being on TV and having that run with Canada’s Got Talent and how amazing that was, but imagine if I would have if I would have turned it down. Or if I would have been too afraid to try it out because ‘Oh, you’re a rapper’, said Offishall.
He admitted feeling uncertain about how audiences would react when he joined Canada’s Got Talent, given how different the role was from his established reputation. Although the fear of failure lingered, he believes that taking those risks is what makes life truly meaningful.
“I think that really the beauty in life is, you know, what they say: ‘Life favours the bold’. You know, those people that go out there and they take those chances. And I think there’s a lot of people that let the comfort stifle their growth,” Offishall tells The Brandon Gonez Show.
He recently released his newest album, “Firestarter Vol. 2: Everyday, Sometimes…” which is his first album since 2015, and he shares why he hadn’t put out a new album in over ten years.
“I would honestly say that I was disenchanted with putting out new music for a long time, just because the landscape of music is so unpredictable. But the thing about the music industry, it can really be dark,” he said.
His new album features huge names such as longtime friend Idris Elba, as well as Buju Banton, Konshens, T-Pain, Melanie Fiona and more.
Speaking about the change of the music industry, Offishall says Black artists in Canada continue to face barriers in an industry that provides greater infrastructure and support for white pop artists.
“There is much more of an infrastructure for pop artists in Canada and white pop artists in Canada than there are for Black artists in Canada, and that’s just you know, an unfortunate reality,” he said.
He also added that people have called him crazy for not prioritizing wealth and fame in his career to get him ahead, a choice he says many in the industry make.
“Listen over my career. I have chosen the things that are important to me over money dozens and dozens of times,” he says.
Offishall says that having a family is the most important part of his life, and is something he would never trade for money and fame, even if it means he is not a mega star or as rich as he could be.
“I’ve also been in rooms with people that I idolise that don’t have a wife or a partner of any sort. They might have kids, but these are kids that they really didn’t know growing up,” said Offishall. “And I’ve seen people that are very lonely, but they have the accolades. That’s never been my thing to where I’m going to trade in the things that are important to me.”
Offishall has been married to his wife, Tashi Harrow since 2009 and they have three children, who he said were very supportive of his newest album.
“This is the first time that my kids were old enough to actually have an opinion,” he shares. “It is beautiful when your kids are the ones to big you up and the ones to tell you, ‘Go on, daddy.’”
Even while celebrating the success of his latest project, he remains grounded in the path that got him here, and opens up about the personal sacrifices he made along the way.
Not having enough money to afford the TTC before signing to his first record deal, and having to get support from other up and coming artists in the city was a reality for the rapper in the beginning of his career.
“We literally used to have to pool our money together and network not just our resources monetarily, but even just you know the people power,” said Offishall.
Despite the challenges he faced early in his career, Offishall says the support and collaboration of Toronto’s music community helped him get to where he is today, proving that success is about more than just making it big.
Check out the full exclusive interview on The Brandon Gonez Show on Youtube.
