Among us insiders in the artistic community and "industry types" here in the city of Toronto, there's alot of talk about who could be the next king of T.O; much like how New Yorkers debate on who is New York City's greatest lyricist. Without question, undeniably this was Kardinal Offishall's shining year within the ranks of Toronto's finest. But there is another generation of Toronto hip hop hopefuls all bidding for the same position; and their eyes have watched Kardi's ascension lately with close interest. Some of them have even asked us what we thought of Kardi, and my answer has always been the same; that it was his time to shine because he was among those whose work was meant to pay off...too many people had invested in Kardinal, so his eventual break was inevitable. But that effort on his part couldn't have come at a more less opportunistic time in music. Kardi sold approximately
11,869 copies of his latest album in the United States, in its first week of release. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at #40. In Canada, it debuted at #8 on the Canadian Albums Chart, with 4,247 copies sold in the first week, and was also the #1 R&B/Hip-Hop album in the country. Those are the numbers...and numbers don't lie. If Kardi was expected to sell atleast 10 percent of what was sold in the United States here in Canada then the math would suggest that he had done well - 11,869 x .10 = 1,187, again Kardinal sold 4,247 which is almost 3 times that number. An even greater breakdown further shows us that 58 percent (2.463) of the sales mentioned above did come from Ontario and I wonder which province followed after Ontario, cause it's always good to know where sales come from. Estimating fairly Kardinal has about 35,500 more albums to sell in order for Kardinal to get a gold album certification.
Kardi's "Dangerous" single debuted at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it has peaked as high as number 5, so his single with Akon not only sold well but had lasting power. The album continues to recieve generally favourable reviews from music critics.
