LargeUp Exclusive: Kardinal Offishall Interview + "Mercy" Freestyle
July 18, 2012
In between dropping wicked freestyles on the G.O.O.D. Music "Mercy" beat (after the jump) Toronto's number one rude-boy, Kardinal Offishall, sat down with our people at LargeUp to discuss Toronto hip-hop culture and its Caribbean influence, dubplates, KRS-One and all that good stuff. Read a quotable from the Kardinal below and hit the links at bottom for more from LargeUp--including his list of the greatest Jamaican MCs of all time!
In terms of hip-hop, anybody that has had any longevity has not been a one-dimensional MC. Nobody. All the people that we revere, from a Cee-Lo to a Nas, even GangStarr, Fugees, has been able to show versatility. Look at Kanye—on different albums he felt differently and expressed himself differently. And that’s kind of where I’ve always been. Nobody that’s in the underground is there because they are able to do other types of joints, and because they want to be in the underground. A lot of people that’s all they can do. Some people are great on pop records, but couldn’t touch a hardcore Nottz joint if their life depended on it.
>>>Read Kardinal Offishall's Top 9 Jamaican MCs (via LargeUp)
[audio:https://www.okayplayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/JD_Era_x_Kardinal_Offishall-Mercy_freestyle.mp3|titles=Kardinal_Offishall x JD Era - "Mercy" freestyle]