Not 4 Sale (Kardinal Offishall album)

Not 4 Sale
Studio album by Kardinal Offishall
Released	September 9, 2008 (see release history)
Recorded	2006–2007
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
Fire and Glory (2005) Not 4 Sale (2008) Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself (2012)
Singles from Not 4 Sale
"Dangerous" Released: March 2008 "Burnt" Released: July 15, 2008 "Set It Off" Released: July 15, 2008 "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)" Released: September 2008

Not 4 Sale is the fourth studio album by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, released September 9, 2008 on Kon Live/Geffen Records. 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)".

Background

On July 2, 2007, the single "Graveyard Shift", featuring Akon, was 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 five on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

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 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 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:

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]

The album sold 11,869 copies in the United States in its first week of release. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 40.^[12] As of February 15, 2009, the album has sold 34,822 copies.^[13] In Canada, it entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number eight, with 4,247 copies sold in the first week.^[14]

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."^[15] 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."^[16] 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."^[17] The album won the award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.^[18]

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	4:11
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 Keri Hilson)	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[19]	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

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

Region	Date
Canada	September 9, 2008
United States
Japan[20]	September 24, 2008
United Kingdom[17]	September 29, 2008

References

1. Mixtape Monday: Gucci Mane Shrugs Off Feud With Young Jeezy; Akon Spits Again MTV. Accessed on August 27, 2008.
2. Not 4 Sale > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles Allmusic. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
3. Kardinal Offishall : Discography KardinalOffishall.com. Accessed on July 22, 2008.
4. Kardinal Offishall : Artists KardinalOffishall.com. Accessed on July 3, 2008.
5. Allmusic review
6. Blender review
7. Eye Weekly review
8. People review
9. PopMatters review
10. RapReviews review
11. USA Today review
12. Not 4 Sale - Kardinal Offishall Billboard. Accessed on October 2, 2008.
13. Billboard 200. Nielsen SoundScan. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
14. Canadian Albums Chart. Nielsen SoundScan. Accessed on September 21, 2012.
15. Not 4 Sale > Overview Allmusic. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
16. This week's reviews: LL's 'Exit,' Jessica's gone country USA Today. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
17. Kardinal Offishall - Not 4 Sale PopMatters. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
18. Rap Recording of the Year JUNO Awards. Accessed on October 2, 2009.
19. Kardinal Offishall - Not 4 Sale - Music Charts aCharts. Accessed on December 23, 2009.
20. Universal Music Group Japan: Not 4 Sale (Kardinal Offishall album)