LargeUp Premiere: Kardinal Offishall feat. Assassin — “OG”

While we’re still waiting for the official debut of Suit of Black—Kardinal Offishall’s project with Assassin and Bunji Garlin—Kardinal has just hit us with a new track featuring 2/3 of the Caribbean supergroup.

This isn’t the first time the Toronto’s Jamerican hip-hop don has collaborated with Agent Sasco, though. Last year, they teamed up (along with Raekwon) for “Pretty Paper,” a track released under the banner of Kardi’s other pan-Caribbean supergroup project, Island Boy Cartel. And, it was Kardinal who was responsible for making the link between Assassin and producer Boi1da that resulted in the former’s appearance on Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker The Berry.” So there’s a real history at play on “OG,” a tough marriage of hip-hop and dancehall vibes Kardinal’s timed to coincide with the start of Caribana weekend.

“My perspective on this song is one of an established artist who has graduated to the level of an OG,” Kardinal says. “I am an OG in the country that I come from, I’m in OG in the rap game that has shown me mad love for so long and I am very comfortable being an OG who has held it down for mad years for Canada and my roots in Jamaica.”

For his part, Assassin definitely brings the heat, closing out the song with a strong note that recalls his cameos on “The Blacker The Berry” and Kanye’s “I’m In It.”

Stream “OG” below, and get prep for Caribana with our guide to the Best Caribbean Eats in T-O. And, if you really want to get OG, re-visit Kardinal’s guide to Toronto’s big Carnival, “Six Things Everyone Must Do for Caribana,” from back in 2012.