“Numba 1 (Tide is High)”/”Nina” (2008)
2008’s Not 4 Sale gave Kardinal his first U.S. Top 10 hit in “Dangerous” and current top-tier hip-hop producers Boi 1-Da and Alex da Kid their earliest credits. And it was stacked deep with Caribbean flavor like opener “Burnt” and “Bad Like We Bad,” with dancehall producer Jeremy Harding and T-Dot selectress Tasha Rozez. Kardi scored a nice-sized hit with “Numba 1 (Tide is High),” an update of Blondie’s lite-reggae hit produced by Black Chiney’s Supa Dups that, in its single/version inexplicably (or perhaps because she was unavailable to promote) dropped Rihanna (who appeared on the album version) for Keri Hilson. “Nina,” which saw Kardi flex his considerable deejay skills (complete with Josey Wales-style “Lawwwwd” adlibs) over the “My Conversation” riddim, was the cream of the crop, though.