Kardinal Offishall

Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall, is a Canadian rapper.

A native of Toronto, Harrow began his career in the city's mid-1990s underground hip hop scene and formed the hip hop group the Circle.

At age 14, he performed live on stage for the first time, with Nelson Mandela in attendance during Mandela's first visit to Toronto following his release from prison earlier that year (1990).

By 1993, he decided to change his alias "KoolAid", and went by the moniker "Kardinal Offishall" after being inspired by the great 17th century French politician Cardinal Richelieu.

That year, Offishall co-founded the Circle, a collective of artists including Choclair, Jully Black, Solitair, Tara Chase, and Saukrates.

In 1994, he made his first recorded appearance on Saukrates' single "Still Caught Up".

Kardinal was signed to a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music Canada at the age of 20.

In 1996, he released his first single "Naughty Dread", which was featured on the Rap Essentials Volume One compilation and earned him a Juno Award nomination for Best Rap Recording.

He released his debut studio album, Eye & I (1997) and extended play (EP), Husslin' (2000) before signing with MCA Records in 2000.

In 1997, Kardinal released his debut album Eye & I on Capitol Hill Music.

The only single from the album, "On wit da Show", had considerable video play on MuchMusic.

The album received rave reviews from music critics.

AllMusic stated that Kardinal "blended soul, dancehall, reggae, hip-hop, and a wholly inventive approach to beats on his 20-track debut album, Eye & I."

Unfortunately, the album was poorly distributed in Canada, and a lack of radio support resulted in the album receiving limited commercial attention.

Over 4,000 copies of the album were sold in its first three months of release.

In 1998, he was featured on the Juno-winning single "Northern Touch" with the Rascalz, Choclair, Checkmate and Thrust.

The following year, he produced Choclair's hit single "Let's Ride".

Often credited as Canada's "hip hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent hip hop producers during the 2000s and is distinctive for his reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip hop.

Husslin' was an EP released on April 11, 2000.

It was released independently on Figure IV Entertainment and distributed by Fat Beats Records in the United States.

The title track, "Husslin'", was one of the hottest 12" singles of 2000. "And What?", featuring Saukrates, was released as a single in 1999. "Husslin'" and "Mic T.H.U.G.S." also appear on Kardinal's second studio album, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1. An updated version of "U R Ghetto When", known as "U R Ghetto 2002", is on the Quest for Fire album. In 2000, Kardinal signed with MCA Records. He released the album Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 in 2001, which spawned the hits "BaKardi Slang" and "Ol' Time Killin'".One year after its release, 25,000 copies of the album were sold in Canada. It received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The Source gave the album 31⁄2 out of 5 mics. RapReviews.com gave it a 7/10 rating, calling it a "mixed bag," and stating "there are also some perfect 10's to be found here."

The A.V. Club gave the album a favorable review, praising its "impressive musical and lyrical consistency."

AllMusic gave it 21⁄2 out of 5 stars, noting that Kardinal "displays only flashes of promise here."

His second album and major label debut, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 (2001), entered the Canadian Albums Chart and was supported by his first Canadian Singles Chart entries: "Ol' Time Killin'" and "BaKardi Slang"—which popularized Toronto's nickname "T-dot".

After failing to release the album's sequel in 2003 on MCA, and he signed with Geffen Records, which in turn was absorbed by the former label and led Harrow to briefly release further singles independently.

Harrow's third album, Fire and Glory (2003), was released by Virgin Records and EMI; met with commercial stagnation, it became his only release with the labels.

He then signed with Senegalese-American singer Akon through his record label KonLive Distribution, an imprint of Geffen Records in 2007 to release his fourth album, Not 4 Sale (2008) the following year.

Its first single, "Dangerous" (featuring Akon) peaked at number two on the then-newly established Canadian Hot 100, the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100, and received quadruple platinum certification by Music Canada (MC).

Reaching his furthest mainstream commercial success, he guest performed alongside Colby O'Donis on Akon's single "Beautiful" that same year, which peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Not 4 Sale also peaked at number eight on the Canadian Albums Chart, number 40 on the Billboard 200, and spawned the follow-up single "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" (featuring Keri Hilson or Rihanna), which peaked within the top 40 of the Canadian Hot 100 and received gold certification by MC.

His 2010 single, "Body Bounce" (featuring Akon) peaked within the top 20 of the chart and received platinum certification, although he parted ways with KonLive later that year.

An independent artist once more, he formed the record label Black Stone Colleagues shortly after, although in 2013, Harrow was named the creative executive director of Universal Music Canada's A&R division.

Two years later, he released his fifth album, Kardi Gras, Vol. 1: The Clash (2015) through the label to moderate success.

In April 2021, Harrow was promoted to senior vice-president of A&R for Universal Music Canada.

Harrow was born in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and raised by Jamaican immigrant parents.

From the ages of 2 to 13, he lived in the city's Flemingdon Park neighbourhood.

He moved back to Scarborough for two years, before finally settling in Oakwood–Vaughan, in the city's west end.

While in high school, he would throw parties at the Alexandra Park Community Centre.

He also is a former York University student (Philosophy) but did not complete his degree.

He started rapping at the age of eight and was winning competitions by the time he was 12.