Jason Drew Harrow (also known as Kardinal Offishall), sits down with Afros in Tha city to look back on 50 years of hip-hop. 

A Canadian rapper, executive producer, DJ, and more, Harrow first arrived on the scene in his early teenage years, releasing multiple singles on vinyl before dropping his first album in 1997, Eye & I. 

Harrow went on to release two more albums before partnering up with R&B singer, Akon, in 2005 to work on a few songs. All this led to Harrow signing on to his record label, Kon Live Distribution, in 2007 until 2010. During this time, he would release songs such as Dangerous–– which hit top five on the Billboard Top 100 charts and received triple platinum recognition in Canada –– and work with notable artists like Rhianna, Estelle, T-pain, and Busta Rhymes.  

In 2013, Harrow became the creative executive director of Universal Media Canada’s artist and repertoire division before being promoted to senior vice president in April 2021. None of this, however, has stopped Harrow from creating as he still releases music to this day. 

Working with a plethora of new artists on multiple singles, Harrow takes a look at the evolution of rap, what it means to be a hip-hop artist in today’s age, and what it takes to get into the music industry. 

AITC: This year marks 50 years of hip-hop. You were born around the time when hip-hop was in its infancy. What was hip-hop, in its early stages?  Take me back to when you were growing up in Ontario.

Kardinal:  It's very difficult to describe accurately how hip-hop felt when I was a little kid only because hip-hop was itself, trying to understand what its capabilities were, what it's worth was, its value. And even at that time, who was allowed to participate in hip-hop. Because hip-hop did not emerge as what you see it as today, where it's this mainstream thing, and everybody has access. You very much had to be a part of the culture to know about the songs, know how to get the songs, know where to get the songs, because, especially growing up here. You had to know which radio stations to listen to, what time, who was DJing, and so forth. 

Hip-hop very much came from the streets. It was something where there were codes to it because hip-hop was fueled by the culture first. It was the culture of hip-hop that allowed us to get the music that we enjoy right now. So that's why when people go back and they talk about the elements that started hip-hop –– graffiti, writing, DJing, breakdancing, all that stuff seems pretty historic now. But it was because of all those things that we were able to have rap music as you know it today. So I think what happened to us because we were so close to New York in proximity, you had a lot of different people, whether it be concert promoters and DJs, like Ron Elson, that used to bring talent from the States, particularly New York, up to concert hall in Toronto, or maybe you were blessed enough to live in a neighbourhood where, I'm saying culturally, there were enough people that were participating in hip-hop for you to have access. I think that's what it was like for me growing up, we wanted to be a part of it. And it's old terminology, but we want it to be down. That's what it was, it wasn't just “Oh, I liked this song” and all of a sudden, I'm into hip-hop now. You literally almost had to be indoctrinated in the earlier days in your neighbourhood. 

You talked about having to be in the know about the right radio stations, times, and DJs in order to experience hip-hop. Was that part of the draw for you? The fact that you were experiencing the genre in its infancy?

We didn't know it was in its infancy. See, that's the mistake, you're looking at it from a bird's eye, hindsight view, or 2020, we did not know that it was in its infancy. The people that were a part of hip-hop, we wanted it to last forever. And that was the intention. But you're looking at it from a hindsight view. And I don't even think the line of questioning really is appropriate. Because when you're in it, and you're just living it. So when you're talking about it in its infancy, that's the thing is we were just in it. We weren't thinking about it. It wasn't in its infancy. It was just what it was. It was just something that we were in that we loved. We didn't look at it from the lens of, “Oh, we're, you know, hip-hop, culture, rap music, the culture is young.” It wasn't really a thing until maybe KRS-One. What did he say? “Because rap on a whole isn't even 20 years old.” And that was back in the late 80s, but he was probably one of the first to actually think about rap music in that context. 

Otherwise, people were just enjoying the culture. And I think that's where you had a lot of pushback, and where you had a lot of people that were really down with the culture were upset, is because you had people that were just extracting all the dope chips from the culture but weren't actual participants. So for me, I wasn't just about the radio shows. t was the radio shows, it was a breakdance battle in your neighbourhood, it was the DJs in your neighbourhood, it was the block parties. It was the entire culture.

So then, what does it mean to be a hip-hop artist?

It's a gray area in 2023. I watched something the other day with one of the newer rappers. I was watching him on Drink Champs and he sounded crazy because he was trying to redefine what it meant. And he's like, “Yeah, I don't think that hip-hop is about the culture anymore.” Or he was saying he didn't want it to be. And he was like, “Yo, I just want it to be just the music.” It's a lot of gray areas because I think we used to respect–revere the creators, the people that held up the pillars of hip-hop. The more and more that it gets commercialized, the more and more I think that generations come up and there isn't a better exchange of education, you're going to see the breakdown of the foundation. In other genres, there are literal standards. And I always go back to jazz. As old as jazz music is, there are, when you're learning jazz, certain standards that you either should know or should be able to play. If you don't know those standards, people do not recognize you as a real jazz musician, or you're just a novice. In hip-hop, we're losing all of the standards, you know, in terms of at least the music part of it, you should be able to rapidly build lyrics. That used to be one of the standards, but it isn't anymore. So I think as time is evolving, things are being reevaluated. I don't know if I can answer what it means to be part of hip-hop, in this day and age.

Going back to what you said about having standards and how it's changing, what standards or values do you think a rapper should have? 

I'm not saying anybody should. At the end of the day, it's art. So I think that there's space for everything. There is space for super aggression, there is space for emo, there is space for militant radical shit, there is space for hybrids of a bunch of those different things. I don't think anybody should do anything. The greatest thing about rap is that even though the word counts in rap, like most songs, are small, we are able to get out so many different things in our songs. If done correctly, we're able to express a lot more than a lot of other genres. So in terms of what values do I think they should have, I don't think we should be kind of policed in that type of a way. I think that hip-hop is a place where we should have balance, meaning that there should be a more balanced representation on certain platforms. But outside of the balance, I don't think that you should be relegated to any specific type of mindset, whether you agree with it or not. And I think that's always the beauty of music. 

You've gone from rapper to record producer at Universal. What does it mean to you to be able to be in a position where you can now introduce the next generation of rappers?

It's really dope to be the bridge. They're just a bunch of different things that rap has afforded me. I don't really limit myself in terms of what specific genre am I going to be dealing with when it comes to my executive work because I work with rappers, I work with r&b singers, I work with Dancehall artists, Afro beats, like, I work with a wide variety of artists and genres. And I think it's amazing because I now have the opportunity to be a source of knowledge, and I get to mentor, I get to be the bridge for a lot of these artists and It's really cool because I just think about when I was coming up and the lack of resources that I had, and the just the lack of opportunities and now being able to change the trajectory of music one artist by one artist, I think it's really incredible.

What advice would you give to a person who is hoping to get their foot in the door?

It's interesting because I feel like I'm right in the middle. There was a time where social media wasn't as key to your success as it is now. So I know what it's like on both sides.  And what I would say is that now there're a lot more direct-to-consumer opportunities. There are a lot more ways to be heard. But there's also an influx of a lot of noise. So now, that really incredible singer, rapper, manager, producer, has to cut through hundreds and thousands of artists, and hundreds of thousands of posts, and hundreds of thousands of people dropping music every day. 

Unfortunately, a lot of times ––not all the time ––music is not enough. What I would say right now is if you can figure out a way to harness your creativity, to where you are able to still make incredible quality, standout music, but at the same time, figure out how to market yourself to the world in a unique and innovative way that is engaging and captures people's attention, that's how you're going to win in 2023 and beyond. You got to figure out the balance because you can go viral, but if you don't have any music to sustain your career, it's over. And if all you have is music, but you have nothing else that's interesting that is going to pique people's interest, then you're also over. So I would say for people getting into it, my biggest thing is to be able to figure out what your balance is. If you are a person that makes great content, make sure that your music is up to par and at the very least as good as your content. And the same I would go for if you are somebody that is just focused on the music [and] you're like “Listen, I just want to make the most dope music possible,” cool. But make sure you figure out a way to create engaging and interesting content so that you know you can bring people in so that they can actually hear your product. 

Rap came into fruition in 1973 after a Bronx DJ, Clive Campbell (more professionally known as DJ Kool Herc), threw an event in an apartment complex alongside his sister, setting off a chain reaction that led to hip-hop culture as we see it today. Six years after Campbell’s apartment party, legendary hip-hop group, The Sugarhill Gang, would release what is considered by many to be the first-ever rap song in 1979, “Rappers Delight.”

Kardinal Offishall will be in Calgary to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop at the Olympic Plaza on Aug. 30, 2023 as part of the Arts Commons free event “Party in the Plaza.” The event features acts from a plethora of local artists such as Tea Fannie, Kiesza, Halfcut and many more.