Kardinal Offishall's Vocal Techniques: How to Sing Like Him

Kardinal Offishall is known to be a charismatic and versatile rapper, mixer, and record executive, whose music repertoire spans different genres such as hip hop, dancehall, reggae, and soca. His talent and energy have been praised worldwide and his performances have been milestones in the music industry.

Many of his songs are fast-paced, and contain a blend of reggae and hip hop rhythms, which makes his music unique and catchy. However, Kardinal's voice is also one of his most prominent assets, and his vocal technique is worth exploring if you want to learn how to sing like him.

Determine Your Vocal Range

To start with, a singer should always analyze their voice in order to determine their range. Vocal range is the span of pitches a person can sing comfortably. Singers can develop and improve their range with practice, so it’s essential to include different exercises for each vocal area, including the chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice. Using Singing Carrots' vocal range test can provide useful insights on your vocal range and areas of improvement.

Focus on Proper Breathing

Once you know your vocal range, it’s time to focus on one of the key aspects of Kardinal's singing technique – proper breathing. Breathing correctly while singing is essential since it provides the necessary oxygen to the lungs, relaxing the vocal cords, and improving the singer's control of pitch and tone. Recommended practices include active/passive breathing and breath support as well as Farinelli breathing to master breathing control.

Improve Articulation

An additional key element in Kardinal Offishall's vocal technique is articulation. Articulation describes how clearly sounds are pronounced and the singer's ability to precisely deliver the lyrics to the audience. Developing correct articulation can greatly enhance the perception of messages within your songs.

Learn Twang Sound Technique

Another characteristic of Kardinal’s voice is the unique use of the twang sound, a technique that creates a powerful, metallic vibration in the vocal cords. This technique is most prominent in the verses of his song "BaKardi Slang" and in parts of "Dangerous" where he raps in his high pitch voice. Exercises like How to Twang can be learned to improve twang and resonate your sound more powerfully throughout the music making process.

Sing with Intuition, Emotion, and Thinking

Finally, Kardinal Offishall is known for his excellent performance delivery, usually singing with intuition, emotion, skills, and thinking. Singing with intuition and emotion requires a relaxed body, focused and clear mind, and the ability to empathize with the music you’re singing to create impact. Singers can develop this skill through vocal practice, stage performance, effective vocal training sessions, and focusing on breathing and body posture. Additional tips on overcoming stage fright and tips for stage performance can be found here: Overcoming stage fright and Tips for performing on stage.

Remember, the key factors to learning how to sing like Kardinal Offishall include proper breathing, artistic articulation, and emotional delivery. These factors will help you discover your voice and enable you to replicate the techniques used by Kardinal Offishall.