Not 4 Sale

Methinks Canadian boy Kardinal Offishall is trying to fit in with them cool yankee rappers down the road, with an explicit and self-conscious bid for the charts. Why can’t he just accept his Canuck origins, wear a Mountie costume and rap about the rich natural resources of the Alberta Oil Flats, the joys of having a parliamentary government, proper gun control, and universal healthcare? Yes I know that’d be stereotypical and vaguely racist, like Messiah J & The Expert rapping about curraching while wearing leprechaun suits. Except, of course, that Messiah J & The Expert are very very good and Kardinal Offishall is quite mediocre with predictable, tired synth-heavy production, and boringly soulful “seductive” vocals from guests like Akon (which could only ever succeed romantically on the basis that they bore young ladies into bed).