''Not 4 Sale'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the countr ...

, released September 9, 2008 on

Kon Live KonLive Distribution (or simply KonLive) was a record label founded by R&B singer Akon. The label served as a joint-venture deal between Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records. Notable artists briefly signed to the label include Lady Gaga, Kardina ...

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. It is his second international major-label album after '' Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1'', released in 2001. It was a critical success, and included the top five ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single " Dangerous", and the minor hit "

Numba 1 (Tide Is High) "The Tide Is High" is a 1967 rocksteady song written by John Holt, originally produced by Duke Reid and performed by the Jamaican group the Paragons, with Holt as lead singer. The song gained international attention in 1980, when a cover vers ...

Background

On July 2, 2007, the single "Graveyard Shift", featuring Akon, was premiered on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially lau ...

Hip-Hop Nation Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...

channel. It was originally the album's first single.Mixtape Monday: Gucci Mane Shrugs Off Feud With Young Jeezy; Akon Spits Again
MTV. Accessed on August 27, 2008. In March 2008, the first single " Dangerous", also featuring Akon, was released. It proved to be Kardinal's most successful single, peaking at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In June 2008, Kardinal released the mixtape, ''Limited Time Only'', which had snippets of five songs that would appear on the album. One of those songs, "Burnt", featuring Lindo P, was accompanied by a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

in late June. On July 15, "Burnt" and "Set It Off" featuring Clipse, were released on iTunes; In August, a music video was released for "Set It Off". The song "

", featuring Rihanna, is a cover of the reggae song "

The Tide Is High "The Tide Is High" is a 1967 rocksteady song written by John Holt, originally produced by Duke Reid and performed by the Jamaican group the Paragons, with Holt as lead singer. The song gained international attention in 1980, when a cover vers ...

".Kardinal Offishall : Artists
KardinalOffishall.com. Accessed on July 3, 2008. The version featuring

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

is the album's fourth single. A music video was released for the song "Nina", though it was not released as a single. Kardinal's idea for the album title was from a custom-made T-shirt which read "Not 4 Sale" and had a bar code on it. Kardinal explained why he chose ''Not 4 Sale'' as the title:

Reception

The album sold 11,869 copies in the United States in its first week of release. It entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 40. Not 4 Sale - Kardinal OffishallBillboard. Accessed on October 2, 2008. As of February 15, 2009, the album has sold 34,822 copies. In Canada, it entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number eight, with 4,247 copies sold in the first week. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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." ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' gave it 3 out of 4 stars, noting "his potent blend of hip-hop and dancehall gives him a flavor all his own."

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

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."Kardinal Offishall - Not 4 Sale
PopMatters. Accessed on October 2, 2009. The album won the award for Rap Recording of the Year at the

2009 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 2009 honoured music industry achievements in Canada in the latter part of 2007 and in most of 2008. These ceremonies were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada during the weekend ending 29 March 2009. Loverboy was inducte ...

.Rap Recording of the Year
JUNO Awards. Accessed on October 2, 2009.

Track listing

Samples and interpolations

* "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" contains an interpolation of "

" by

The Paragons The Paragons were a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Kingston, Jamaica, initially active in the 1960s. Their most famous track was " The Tide Is High", written by band member John Holt. Career The Paragons were originally Garth "Tyrone" E ...

* "Ill Eagle Alien" contains an interpolation of "

Englishman in New York "Englishman in New York" is a song by English singer-songwriter Sting, from his second studio album '' ...Nothing Like the Sun'', released in October 1987. Branford Marsalis played soprano saxophone on the track, while the drums were played by ...

" by Sting * "Nina" contains excerpts from "My Conversation" by

Slim Smith Slim Smith (born Keith Smith; 1948 in Kingston, Jamaica – 1972) was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book ''Reggae: The Rough Guide'' (1997), Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge ...

& The Uniques

Chart positions

Personnel

* Hakim Abdulsamad – producer * Chris Athens – mastering * Leslie Brathwaite – mixing * Bryan Brock – art direction, design * Danny Reid Carter – A&R * Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos – engineer * Cliff Feiman – production supervisor * Jeremy Harding – mixing * Shawn Holiday "Tubby" – executive producer, A&R * Jason Joshua – mixing * Tyson Kuteyi – mixing, vocal mixing * Glenn Lewis – composer * Paul Marshall – engineer * Martin Riley – composer * Fareed Salamah – mixing assistant * James "Scrappy" Stassen – engineer * Devyne Stephens – executive producer * Aliaune "Akon" Thiam – producer, executive producer * Lloyd Tyrell – composer * Ianthe Zevos – creative art

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Albums produced by Akon Albums produced by Alex da Kid Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by Jake One Albums produced by Kardinal Offishall Albums produced by Nottz Geffen Records albums Kardinal Offishall albums KonLive Distribution albums Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year recordings