LE:

Tell me about Fire and Glory.

KARDI:

The album Fire and Glory has been a couple of years in the making.  It’s finally coming out on November 15^th in stores all across the country.  It’s dope because it’s a collaboration between my label, Black Jays and Virgin Music Canada.  I got to incorporate some of my favourites on there.  Vybez Cartel is one of my favourite dancehall artists.  Spragga Benz who I think is one of the most underrated dancehall artists.  Also, work with Renee Neufville from Zhane and Busta Rhymes.  That was crazy.  Also I got a chance work with a lot of my favourite Canadian artists, most of which are from my crew, the Black Jays – so Nicole Moses, Ro Dolla.  Lindo P narrates the whole thing.  Riley’s on a song with Spragga Benz.  Just got a chance to work with a lot of really talented people. That’s a good feeling at the end of the day.  Besides the fact that the music is good – the energy from those people is also a crazy thing to live with every day. 

There’s a lot of topics on the album from police harassment to family values to people getting deported from Canada from dealing with a lot of legal things.  So many different subjects that we dealt with on the album.  I think that it’s really thorough and complete and something that any Canadian or anybody around the world, for that matter, should be proud of. 

LE:

You produced most of Fire and Glory – why did you decide to take that on this time and not before as you’ve produced so many other artists (a virtual Who’s Who of urban music talent)?

KARDI:

Really and truly I think it’s because it’s been so long since I’ve come out with a full length on a major label that’s been one of my own.  I wanted it to be more about myself.  I wanted to be able to showcase what I’m dealing with as far as production goes.  I’ve worked with a lot of different people over the years but I definitely wanted to have my production shown on this album.

My music is an extension of myself and the best way to represent yourself is to do it yourself if you can.  I’ve been putting in work for many years now and I think I know where I want to be and how I want to be represented so I’m always of the opinion that no matter what it is in life, that if you want it done properly, do it yourself.  Whenever I’ve been given the opportunity, I’ll do anything myself.  The more personal it is to me, the more that I will protect my baby, meaning the music.  I think when it’s not as much you then you can kind of fall back if something doesn’t work and then say ‘oh somebody else did that’ but when it’s more you, you kind of hold on to it more and you have a lot more to prove and you feel it more.

LE:

Would you say that the difference between this project and other projects would be?

KARDI:

So far in working with other artists I was able to give them my twist and that’s the whole thing about it is being able to work with someone else and even with yourself, and pulling out something that they might not have been able to do on their own.  I kind of challenge myself, sometimes it’s a challenge just to be able to master a song.  Somebody else’s?  It releases something else in your brain but when it’s you, you have to work that much harder to make it an above average piece of work. 

LE:

Part of our Canadian culture is that we embrace so many cultures – have you ever been tempted to step outside your culture to make a hit?

KARDI:

It’s always tempting.  I’ve had that dangled in front of me before.  ‘Why don’t you just work with this person?’ but I believe that I have a greater purpose than just making a hit song.  There’s more to it than just the hit.  There’s a message that goes along with it, there’s a movement that goes along with it, there’s a mentality that goes along with what I’m trying to do.  I don’t think it’s as easy as doing a formula song that radio is going to play over, over and over.  That’s not what I’m here for.  I’m here for more than that. 

LE:

Do you feel a certain responsibility on the mike? 

KARDI:

Having a microphone is definitely a responsibility.  Some people don’t like to feel responsible like ‘I’m not responsible for your children’ and really and truly, we are not directly responsible because I feel that even on the day when I have my kids, that nobody’s going to say that my child is a certain way because of television or radio.  It’s going to be because of how I brought them up.  I think that no matter what I do in life, it is a direct result of how my parents raised me and the values that they have instilled in me. 

But I also feel that you cannot be just reckless on the mike because your words and the vibe you put out there has an effect on people’s lives.  I know that for sure because of the profound effect that many different artists had on my life.  Anybody from Chuck D and Public Energy to Bob Marley to Mobb Deep to whoever.  These people affected my life and how I grew up so I definitely want to have a certain kind of effect on the way the people grow up as well. 

LE:

What would you say is the unique contribution of Canadian hip hop?

KARDI:

I think that it’s similar to other places but what that really is the emigration of people from the West Indies to other places in the world.  Whenever I go to London, it’s a similar mix of people, a similar mind state.  I think because Canada, especially Toronto, deals with the whole idea of being a cultural mosaic, it comes out not only in the music, it will come out in the artist, the way they view the world, they way they think about things.  If you look at us, anybody from Nelly Furtado, kos, myself – Nelly Furtado is a proud Portuguese person, kos is a proud Trini and myself, a proud Jamaican – that type of thing you’re not going to get in the States. 

Until he died, and they started digging for info, you didn’t know that Biggie Smalls mom and dad were from Jamaica, you didn’t know that.  That’s not necessarily what they promote over there.  Pete Rock, who is now a good friend of mine, his parents are from Jamaica.  He actually has family over here.  Renee Neufville (from Zhane), who’s on the album, her parents are from Jamaica but her whole career, they couldn’t find a way to put that into her music and have people understand it in the States.  Whereas here, we get it because that’s how we always came up.  From Dream Warriors to Michie Mee, we’ve always had that in our music.  I think that’s pretty unique just because we’ve been doing it for so long.  Michie was repping that way back in 1987. 

LE:

What do you like most about being a Canadian artist?  The least?

KARDI:

I like the fact that I’m educated … I could end the sentence there (laughs).  I like that I’ve learned so much about different cultures growing up here, whether it’s Taste of the Danforth or celebrating Chinese New Year growing up.  There’s just so many different things that go on here that you learn about in the school curriculum.  I grew up before all these educational cuts and they used to have cultural classes within school and you were able to take Cantonese, Black History, dance classes – so many things I was able to learn here. 

We have so much access to stuff – VideoFact, Factor – all these different grants that help artists flourish and help us be the best that we can be.  That’s what I love most about being from Canada and being a Canadian artist.

What I hate is that we will forever looked at as second or sometimes third.  That’s not just within music but that’s our military, our Government, our economy.  A good reason is because of the proximity in terms of how close we are to the States.  Because we are only 30 million people over here and they’re 10 times more.  It’s just one of those things – it’s always going to be like that because for every 2 Canadian channels we have on TV, they’ll have 20.  For every two artists we’ll have, they’ll have 20. 

Although there was a point in time during the Trudeau years when our dollar was actually stronger and until that day comes again, that’s just the way it’s going to be because we have such a powerhouse – they’re an ignorant powerhouse – but because they’re right there, it’s one of those things when you’re living in a house beside a skyscraper, you’re always going to be in the shadow and you’re always going to have to work to get out of that shadow. 

LE:

I think that Canadians have somewhat of an inferiority complex.

KARDI:

I think it used to be that way but now because of the Internet, and the global community growing so close together, now people are starting to get what the States is about.  Saying that all this stuff is being revealed about the States, now we’re able to be our own person and have our own identity.  It hasn’t always been that way but now, in 2005 and 2006 just around the corner, I think it’s definitely going to be even more in the forefront, that we are Canadian – we are not American – and people will take us for what we are. 

LE:

You’ve been working in the industry for quite awhile.  Did you ever want to give up when you were on your way up?

KARDI:

No.  Never.  I never wanted to throw it in.  Honestly, there’s times when you have to remind yourself why you’re doing it because there’s just so much BS that gets put in the forefront of the music industry. There’s so much stuff that you have to fight against to get your music heard.  Now, it’s about marketing and gimmicks. 

When I was coming up and what gave me the spark was these people that just came out of nowhere with these ideas that were so new, so raw, so fresh.  I used to love when that new artist came out – when Naughty by Nature, the first Tribe Called Quest song, De La Soul, Public Enemy.  I remember all those songs and all those artists and I remember not ever hearing anything like that before.  Now, because things are so based on marketing schemes and gimmicks and stuff, sometimes it’s ‘Why am I doing this again? Is my music going to get heard?  Are people interested in hearing anything with some depth?’ 

But I’ve never wanted to throw it in.  Never. 

LE:

What are your thoughts about the music industry and what’s been the biggest challenge?

KARDI:

The biggest challenge is getting my music out there on a large scale - getting the same shot that an American artist would get.  What it means is that I’m proud to say that in travelling, the comment that I hear the most is that ‘yo Kardi, you’re so ill, your stuff is so dope, all you need is that one shot.  That one opportunity to release your music on a large scale.’ 

I’m still in the trenches trying to get it done.  How I plan to keep doing it and eventually get it done to where I’m happy with it , is to work 10 times harder than that next artist.  While that artist is playing video games, I’m going to be in the studio.  While that artist is taking trips to Italy and France, I’m going to be in the trenches trying to get on that next project so that more people can hear my voice and see that I’m not anybody to be played with. 

LE:

I’m not a hip hop head, I feel that hip hop started out to elevate consciousness and awareness – do you feel that this mandate has changed at all? 

KARDI:

Yeah, I think what fuels a lot of people unfortunately is to make money.  Not that I don’t want to make money doing it or that it’s a bad thing, but when that’s the only thing that you’re in it for like ‘Well, I don’t really like rap like that but if I can rap and make a million dollars, then I’m going to do it.’  Unfortunately, that’s tainting the way that hip hop is viewed.  Because some people are so focussed on the money and these gimmicks more than the actual content of the song, it’s kind of making a mockery of itself. 

LE:

What pieces of advice would you give to a young artist that wants to enter the business?

KARDI:

Network network network.  That is definitely the key to a great amount of me and my people’s success.  And it’s not just about meeting people, it’s about people remembering who you are.  You have to go out there and meet people but somehow they have to remember you.  You have to do something so that they will remember you.  So that your name will come up and other networking opportunities will come.  You never know behind which door is going to be your shot.  You never know when any little crack in the door that you can stick your foot in – you never know if you push that door in if that’s going to be your time to get over that hump and really be someone super successful.  Networking is the probably the most important thing that an up and coming artist should be about.

Even if it’s just that one day and you’re not able to form a long relationship, learn. Listen to what people are saying.  Even if it’s 10 minutes.  That 10 minutes could be the most important 10 minutes of your life. 

LE:

If you could work with any artist, living or past, who would it be?

KARDI:

Hmmm.  I was going to say Bob (Marley) but I think it would have been interesting to work with Peter Tosh.  He’s a rebel with no apologies – not that Bob was soft or anything – Bob was definitely one of my idols, but Peter Tosh – just the way that he spoke he was not just somebody who could talk, he was an orator.  Somebody that commanded your attention. 

When I get into my moods when I want to talk about something that’s important to me and society, I think that that combination would have been crazy in this day and age. 

LE:

What do you want people to remember you for?

KARDI:

That I was somebody who tried his best to instill the idea of success into anybody that ever heard me speak or heard my music.  I want to be remembered as somebody that was not just trying to push positivity but trying to promote the whole idea that we are more than we think we are.  Sometimes we have this limited idea of what we can achieve in life.  We have this notion that I come from here, I can only achieve this.  Or ‘that’s never going to be me’.  I want people to say ‘Kardi was a person that said screw that.  I can do whatever I put my mind to.’  Really and truly, I’m nobody except somebody that’s from Toronto that’s doing his thing.  To have worked with some of these multi multi millionaires, these super successful people – it’s not that I did anything magical.  I just had a goal and stuck to it.  I reached for it and was focussed and I think that anybody can do it, as long as they work hard. 

How does it go? ‘Success before work only comes first in the dictionary.’

LE:

So, what’s in your CD player right now?

KARDI:

I don’t really deal with a CD player, I deal with the iPod, straight up.  I just bought Spragga Benz’s Fully Loaded album.  I buy stuff every Tuesday.  I bought the 50 Cent soundtrack.  I just bought some old school stuff, Audio Two, they did the song Top Billing, Dwele.  I think I have 8,000 songs on my iPod.  We were just listening to some early 90’s dancehall on the way over here – Red Dragon, Cutty Ranks and all kinds of stuff.  It all depends on what mood I’m in. 

LE:

Do you have any favourite Canadian artists? 

KARDI:

Yeah.  One of my favourite Canadian artists of all time is a good friend of mine - Saukrates.  He’s so talented.  Like me, we went through all this bureaucracy and he wasn’t able to get his music out like he should have.  He’s going to get his music out ‘cause I’ve heard the album and it’s crazy.  But he is so super talented and he’s somebody that I’d be proud to stand up in any circle to say that this is somebody who’s representing the T-Dot and also representing my crew.  Saukrates is a multi-talented person and I think that the world needs to hear his music because it’s craaaazy – from the same vein as a Marvin Gaye back in the day or a Quincy Jones.  All these different things wrapped into one within a hip hop way, but not limited to hip hop.  He’s phenomenal.  He’s phenomenal.