Not 4 Sale
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums:
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Not 4 Sale
- Artist: Kardinal Offishall
- Rating:
- Release Date: September 09, 2008
- Type: Contains explicit content
- Genre: Rap
Review
With over a decade of work behind him, things finally fall into place for Kardinal Offishall on Not 4 Sale, an entirely solid album that sounds like the Black Eyed Peas gone grimey or Wyclef Jean getting down and dirty, all with a Ludacris-styled delivery and attitude. As the Canadian -- "If you're looking for me/I'm 3 hours from Michigan" -- rapper, producer, and dancehall ambassador's first effort for Akon's Kon Live label, it benefits from the fat wallet that comes with it, making great use of its platinum guest list while letting the idea-filled Kardinal run wild in a millionaire recording studio. In 2008 it doesn't come much bigger than Rihanna but "Numba 1" doesn't surround the diva with the usual slickness and polish. Instead, it's an aggressive, tribal interpolation of the reggae classic "The Tide Is High" with authentic dancehall production from Black Chiney member Supa Dups. The witty Kardinal holds his own on the cut, proving himself worthy of standing next to both superstars and tastemakers, but he really shines on another interpolation, "Ill Eagle Alien" where the lines "Call me the immigrant translator/or the poor people's permanent position vindicator" are dropped over a hazy redo of Sting's "Englishman in New York." The Wyclef-styled awareness continues with the great "I'd rather have a real home sittin' on an acre/then owin' about hundred grand to my jewelry maker." This freedom fighting and socially conscious writing is tempered with hooky club tracks that never fail -- "Dangerous" with the label boss being the obvious choice -- along with cuts that are in touch with the hip-hop or neo-soul underground like "Set It Off" featuring the Clipse and the cool "Digital Motown" with J-Davey and producer Jake One. The man's Jamaican parents are honored with the wonderful Slim Smith sample on "Nina," goose bumps form when Estelle joins the plaintive "Due Me a Favour," and the interludes that are tacked onto the end of some tracks are either hilarious or poetic. How it was released at the end of a summer when it should have kicked it off is anyone's guess, but this instantly gripping, Island-flavored success works under all conditions and has the depth to still be rewarding whenever the next summer rolls around. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi| Not 4 Sale (2002 Album by Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas) | |
| Not 4 Sale (2008 Album by Lara Karuna) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Not 4 Sale (Kardinal Offishall album)
| Not 4 Sale | ||||
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| Studio album by Kardinal Offishall | ||||
| Released | September 9, 2008 (see release history) |
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| Recorded | 2006–2008 | |||
| Genre | Canadian hip hop | |||
| Length | 63:03 | |||
| Label | Kon Live/Geffen/Black Jays | |||
| Producer | Kardinal Offishall (exec.), Akon (exec.), Devyne Stephens (exec.), Shawn Holiday (exec.), Nottz, Supa Dups, Jake One, DJ Kemo & hAZEL, Alex da Kid, Boi-1da, Shea Taylor, Hakim Abdulsamad | |||
| Kardinal Offishall chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Not 4 Sale | ||||
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Not 4 Sale is the fourth studio album by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, released September 9, 2008 on Kon Live/Geffen Records. Its his second international major-label album, after 2001's Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1. It was a critical success, spawning the top 5 Billboard Hot 100 single "Dangerous", and the minor hit "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)".
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Contents
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Background
On July 2, 2007, the single "Graveyard Shift", featuring Akon, premiered on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hip-Hop Nation channel. It was originally the album's first single.[1] In March 2008, the first single "Dangerous", also featuring Akon, was released. It proved to be Kardinal's most successful single, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]
In June 2008, Kardinal released the mixtape, Limited Time Only, which featured snippets of five songs that would appear on the album. One of those songs, "Burnt" featuring Lindo P, was accompanied by a music video in late June. On July 15, "Burnt" and "Set It Off" featuring Clipse, were released on iTunes;[3] In August, a music video was released for "Set It Off". The song "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)", featuring Rihanna, is a cover of the reggae song "The Tide Is High".[4] The version featuring Keri Hilson is the album's fourth single. A music video was released for the song "Nina", though it wasn't released as a single.
Kardinal originally got the idea for the album title from a custom-made T-shirt. The T-shirt read "Not 4 Sale", and had a bar code on it. Kardinal stated why he chose Not 4 Sale as the title:
My idea was something provocative—that went beyond gender, went beyond race, went beyond what type of music you're into. And people would literally stop me on the street, telling me how dope the shirt was, how similarly they felt. The concept grew in my head based on that reaction. There's energy you can't buy—the essence of people that can't be bought or bottled, and lives within them. That's how I feel about myself—I can't be bought.[4]
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [5] |
| Blender | [6] |
| Eye Weekly | [7] |
| People | [8] |
| PopMatters | (6/10)[9] |
| RapReviews | (7/10)[10] |
| USA Today | [11] |
11,869 copies of the album were sold in the United States, in its first week of release. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 40.[12] As of February 15, 2009, the album has sold 34,822 copies.[13] In Canada, it debuted at number 8 on the Canadian Albums Chart, with 4,247 copies sold in the first week.
The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "an entirely solid album," also stating "this freedom fighting and socially conscious writing is tempered with hooky club tracks that never fail."[14] USA Today gave it 3 out of 4 stars, noting "his potent blend of hip-hop and dancehall gives him a flavor all his own."[15] PopMatters gave the album a 6/10 rating, writing "although many of the tracks here are glossy pop productions, Kardinal has not really changed since he was first heard in the '90s."[16] The album won the award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.[17]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Burnt" (featuring Lindo P) | Shea Taylor | 4:56 |
| 2. | "Set It Off" (featuring Clipse) | Boi-1da | 4:38 |
| 3. | "Dangerous" (featuring Akon) | DJ Kemo & hAZEL | 4:06 |
| 4. | "Digital Motown" (featuring J Davey) | Jake One | 3:47 |
| 5. | "Gimme Some" (featuring The-Dream) | Boi-1da | 4:16 |
| 6. | "Bad Like We Bad" | Kardinal Offishall | 3:40 |
| 7. | "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" (featuring Rihanna) | Supa Dups | 3:43 |
| 8. | "Ill Eagle Alien" | Nottz | 4:54 |
| 9. | "Nina" | Supa Dups | 3:14 |
| 10. | "Go Home with You" (featuring T-Pain) | Kardinal Offishall | 4:17 |
| 11. | "Going In" | Alex da Kid | 4:00 |
| 12. | "Bring the Fire Out" | Boi-1da | 3:06 |
| 13. | "Family Tree (Still Eyerize)" (featuring Glenn Lewis) | Kardinal Offishall | 4:00 |
| 14. | "Due Me a Favour" (featuring Estelle) | Akon, Hakim Abdulsamad (co.) | 6:23 |
| 15. | "Lighter!" | Boi-1da | 4:12 |
| iTunes Store bonus tracks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 16. | "Dangerous (Remix)" (featuring Akon and Sean Paul) | DJ Kemo & hAZEL | 4:35 | ||||||
Samples and interpolations
- "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" – Contains an interpolation of "The Tide Is High" by The Paragons
- "Ill Eagle Alien" – Contains an interpolation of "Englishman in New York" by Sting
- "Nina" – Contains excerpts from "My Conversation" by Slim Smith & The Uniques
Chart positions
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart[12] | 8 |
| French Albums Chart[18] | 105 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[12] | 40 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[12] | 10 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums[12] | 7 |
Personnel
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Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Canada | September 9, 2008 |
| United States | |
| United Kingdom[16] | September 29, 2008 |
References
- ^ Mixtape Monday: Gucci Mane Shrugs Off Feud With Young Jeezy; Akon Spits Again MTV. Accessed on August 27, 2008.
- ^ Not 4 Sale > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles Allmusic. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ Kardinal Offishall : Discography KardinalOffishall.com. Accessed on July 22, 2008.
- ^ a b Kardinal Offishall : Artists KardinalOffishall.com. Accessed on July 3, 2008.
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Blender review
- ^ Eye Weekly review
- ^ People review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ RapReviews review
- ^ USA Today review
- ^ a b c d e Not 4 Sale - Kardinal Offishall Billboard. Accessed on October 2, 2008.
- ^ Billboard 200. Nielsen SoundScan. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ Not 4 Sale > Overview Allmusic. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ This week's reviews: LL's 'Exit,' Jessica's gone country USA Today. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ a b Kardinal Offishall - Not 4 Sale PopMatters. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ Rap Recording of the Year JUNO Awards. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
- ^ Kardinal Offishall - Not 4 Sale - Music Charts aCharts. Accessed on December 23, 2009.
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