• Artist: Kardinal Offishall
• Track: The Anthem
• Producer: Kardinal Offishall
• Album: Mr. International

It’s a tired story, but in the case of Kardinal Offishall it’s a true one. The Toronto native was an underground emcee with a vicious flow, but ever since going major with Konvict Music those sharp edges have been blunted, resulting in one huge hit (Dangerous) and a few kind-of hits (Body Bounce). Kardi’s solution? Give the entire T-Dot population The Anthem. A true anthem needs to be big and loud, so appropriately the self-produced beat is a stadium music blend of pounding drums and piped in crowd noise, while on the lyrical side of the equation Kardi goes well above the lowest common denominator on his verses, bringing back some of that aforementioned viciousness on the mic: “Good people got blasted, so we pour a little liquor our and think about 'em while we plastered.” Girl I Wanna Know this isn’t. So how about it Booth nation? Has Offishall finally found the perfect balance between his commercial and underground sensibilities? If enough people answer yes to that question, expect a release date for his upcoming album, Mr. International, to be announced soon.