Kardinal Offishall Explains How He and Akon Made "Dangerous" a Hit

After years of getting respect from top hip-hop artists around the world (but not much in the way of chart action) Toronto MC Kardinal Offishall has a smash on his hands. "Dangerous" from his new album Not 4 Sale (out last week) went Top Five on Billboard's Hot 100 and is now chilling in the 10 spot.

Offishall says he knew "Dangerous" was a hit as soon as he heard the music from Vancouver's DJ Kemo. "I was like, 'This is retarded. I'm gonna smash this,'" he says. "And I played it for Akon and he was like, 'Where did you get this? This is crazy.' So he went in the booth to perform it. His part was done within 15 minutes. Same thing with mine. I rocked mine, wrote it, recorded it within 20 minutes. That song came together in less than an hour, but it's one of those songs," Kardi adds. "It's like that song, just like when Sting wrote 'Every Breath You Take.' We felt the magic from its inception, from the first time we heard it."

Kardi, who has also collaborated with 50 Cent, T-Pain, Ludacris, Method Man, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, and the Neptunes "was everywhere I was at," says Akon, who signed Kardi to his Konlive label and is featured on "Dangerous." "Just way before he got signed, he was with an independent label in Canada and couldn't do what he wanted to do because he was tied in at the moment, so we just kept conversing with each other until he got out of it and we hooked up. Internationally, he'll be riding with me, touring, breaking outside of Canada."

Estelle, who features Kardi on "Magnificant" from her album Shine, reciprocates on his "Due Me a Favour" on Not 4 Sale. "We both watched each other grow in the industry and have offers and deals that kind of went pffft," says Estelle. "So this time around, he's on Konlive/Interscope and I'm on Homeschool/Atlantic and we're like, 'Yeah! We did it!'"

Related Stories:
• Akon Will Stand Trial For Fan Tossing Incident
• Akon's Criminal Past May Be Fictional
• Eight Arrested at Free Akon Show in Denmark

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter