anadian hip hop artist Kardinal Offishall recently performed at the 'Tuborg-The Fun Starter presents Vh1 Hip Hop Hustle' concerts in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. Offishall kick started his tour from Mumbai on 19th March with a scintillating and powerful performance at the Hard Rock Café.

Over the last three years, Vh1 has brought artistes like Flipsyde, Mobb Deep and Chamillionaire down to Mumbai. The Akon protégé takes forward 'Vh1 Hip Hop Hustle' in its fourth year. Kardinal who has worked with the likes of Akon, Sean Paul, Black Jays, T-Pain, Clinton Sparks, Keri Hilson and Rihanna, performed his best numbers and gave hip hop and non hip hop music lovers a taste of his tantalizing sonic brew of easy island rhythm, vexing sing-song vocals and teeth rattling bass line.

Jason Harrow better known as Kardinal Offishall was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in Toronto. Often credited as Canada's hip hop ambassador, he came into the music spotlight through his hit single Dangerous featuring Akon. He has, however, been a part of the music scene for some time, with his first single Naughty released in 1996.

After dropping several albums under several different labels since 2000, the 6'4" Offishall hooked up with R&b and hip-hop artist Akon in 2005 and everything changed. Following the release of Akon's debut project, Trouble, Kardinal was offered a recording contract with KonLive and distribution through Interscope. Knowing the two artists had an undeniable chemistry, Kardinal accepted Kon's offer, thus paving the way for his forthcoming fourth LP, Not 4 Sale.

Having worked with many hip hop artists down the line Kardinal Offishall is famous for his hits the massive single Dangerous which topped multiple U.S charts, including #1 on Billboard Rhythmic Top 40, making him a household name in North America, alongside his re-working of the 40-year-old Jamaican jingle The Tide Is High originally by The Paragons. Music Video Awards include for Best Rap Video for MoneyJane, in 2004 Canadian Urban Music Award for Empty Barrel, 3 Much Music Awards for Best Video, Best Director and Video FACT Award for Everyday (Rudebwoy) are just a few of the many awards Kardinal has won. Kardinal looks set to make a big impact on the international music scene.

On his visit to India, VERUS FERREIRA caught up with the singer to chat about his drive and passion for music, how he writes his lyrics and a little more.

Welcome to Mumbai. How does it feel to be here?
It really feels great to be in the country that is famous for its curries, culture and great hospitality. I heard a lot about India through my good friend Akon who came here about a year ago. He raved about the place and said to me that you just have to make that trip to India, meet the people, see their culture, taste their great food and also bask in their well known hospitality. He told me that you will change your opinion of how you look at the rest of the world once you visit India. So here I am.

There are many hip-hop artists out there. Are you scared of the competition?
I don't think. I think I am competing with myself, and yes if I had to make a sound similar to another artist, then I would say it is competition, otherwise I don't think so at all. And besides I come from Canada, where there aren't many hip hop artists to look upto. Infact I am like Canada's hip hop ambassador. There are very few artists like me back home, so it feels great to know that I am the lucky one to make it big without many people to compete with me. I won't say the same if I talk of America. There are loads of artists out there. But then each has their own identity and way of making music. I won't make something similar to Akon or T-Pain or a Chris Brown. I would make something that I know is different and sounds different from all those around me. You have to know your focus and run after that. It is like chasing two rabbits, you can't chase both, you have to go after one.

Is your family also into music?
Well, actually I come from a family who simply loves music. My father, my uncles, some of them were DJs, we used to love listening to old records, we used to have big parties during Christmas and we really had music as our main focus all the time. In our neighbourhood we also had a lot of people who were into hip hop music and so I just grew up listening to this kind of music. But when I was really young like in school, we used to rap on our favorite song and imitate those artists. It's like you just sing your favourite artist's songs just for the fun of it.

Coming to this record Not 4 Sale, what is the sound like and what are you trying to show in your music?
Man, this album's like a wildfire. There are like 16 tracks on it and each one is a different piece in its own way. I try to write and record at the same time. Every song on the album, all the content is something that I feel or have felt deeply and have experienced. I am not here to create a controversy, I am not that type of a guy. On the next album I want to dig deeper and take more risks. So far I have done everything comfortably, but now I want to make myself really sweat, things that might make me feel nervous, make me get anxious. That will be the real challenge.

How did the connection with Akon happen?
Akon and I have been friends for many years now. We spoke about business only recently when it was time to record my fourth album and I needed a really good platform to make it with a good established artist. It was a great feeling to be signed onto his label and be under his guidance. Whatever we work on just comes naturally to us and it just works in our favour.

What is the album like - the sound and the lyrics?
While the world is going digital, I am not interested in doing a song and letting it go onto becoming a hit. I want to make an entire album that is good that also has a solid collection of hits at the same time and not a compilation of songs that I have done. There were many people who wondered how I would make it big……..(pauses) how is a Canadian rapper was going to make it big, but you just have to work harder and then you can make it happen. Regarding the second part of your question, my lyrics focus on my personal experiences and my own life. It's my story and my way of letting you know about it.

You also happened to shoot with A.R. Rehman for Beautiful. Comment.
Yes, I didn't actually really meet up with him for the song, but it was just that he came by while we were at work on shooting for the song 'Beautiful' for a cameo role. He wasn't really supposed to be in the video, but Akon tricked him into being in the video. Very interestingly, Akon just told him if he could just be there in a corner for just one second. We started rolling when suddenly Akon panned the camera on him to make him part of the video. He realised it only too late and left immediately. Akon is A.R. Rehman's friend and on Akon's last visit I think they had decided to work together one day.

Our final question. Why did you take on the name Kardinal Offishall when your real name is Jason Harrow?
The area that I come from has many people who give you names that you don't want to keep. I've had a couple of stupid names given to me down the years; I just wanted something that was me. I took it (Kardinal Offishall) because I wanted to have a very unique moniker, something that would give me an identity. I wanted to have a name so that no matter where I was you just took the name Kardinal Offishall and you would know what I am talking about. I wanted every part of my career to stand out. I was in high school when I came up with that name and it stuck. It actually just came up one day when we were studying in History class at school and the name came up. I just loved the name, I found it very interesting, and so I just took it. And let me tell you, everything I do I just want to make it official.