In 2003, Dave Chappelle satirized “Making the Band 2” contestant Dylan John in a comedy sketch. In a thick Jamaican accent, Chappelle asks the camera who the best five rappers are, quickly responding to his own query: “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan and Dylan.”
This is the same self-proclaimed reggae lyricist who coined the perpetually funny one-liner: “I spit hot fire.”

Although Mr. John didn’t make it beyond P. Diddy and “Making The Band 2,” Kardinal Offishall seems to have taken his lead and run with it.
“Not 4 Sale” is the album John would have made.
“Not 4 Sale” is characterized by a few main themes that hold throughout: extremely strong featuring artists with killer hooks, fabulous female vocals, obligatory generic rap ideals and a factor of severe creepiness no one else has undertaken lately.

“Digital Motown” features J*Davey and holds a definite single quality. “Gimme Some” features Terius Nash, better known as Grammy-nominated artist, The Dream.
“Gimme Some” could be played at the club and could be a single, but is hard to categorize due to slow jam vocals combined semi-awkwardly with Justin Timberlake-ish beats. The Dream’s voice sounds great to the ear, but the lyrics delve into the realm of creepy, airing his feelings on one dancing girl’s curves.

The T-Pain explosion of 2007 and 2008 took a bite out of “Not 4 Sale” as well, leaving “Go Home With You” as its by-product.
There are no two ways about this track: it sounds like music from a hip-hop cemetery. T-Pain sounds ghost-like, as though he’s being synthesized through a church organ that hasn’t been played in years.
It’s only to be seen if the hip-pop public is ready for this Toronto-raised Jamaican. Kardinal’s dancehall-reggae sound is definitely different than most of what we’re hearing lately.

It’s unfortunate the lyrics are essentially unintelligible to the average listener.
Kardinal is banking on who spits the hot fire alongside him, because it’s certainly not him who’s doing it.
This is a start for Kardinal Offishall. It’s clear he needs to spend more time understanding what he’s trying to have fans experience instead of making short-term dollar signs by enlisting poppy hook makers.

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