On July 2, 2007, the single "Graveyard Shift", featuring Akon, was premiered on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hip-Hop Nation channel. It was originally the album's first single.[1] In March 2008, the first single "Dangerous", also featuring Akon, was released. It proved to be Kardinal's most successful single, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]
In June 2008, Kardinal released the mixtape, Limited Time Only, which had snippets of five songs that would appear on the album. One of those songs, "Burnt", featuring Lindo P, was accompanied by a music video in late June. On July 15, "Burnt" and "Set It Off" featuring Clipse, were released on iTunes;[3] In August, a music video was released for "Set It Off". The song "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)", featuring Rihanna, is a cover of the reggae song "The Tide Is High".[4] The version featuring Keri Hilson is the album's fourth single. A music video was released for the song "Nina", though it was not released as a single.
Kardinal's idea for the album title was from a custom-made T-shirt which read "Not 4 Sale" and had a bar code on it. Kardinal explained why he chose Not 4 Sale as the title:
My idea was something provocative — that went beyond gender, went beyond race, went beyond what type of music you're into. And people would literally stop me on the street, telling me how dope the shirt was, how similarly they felt. The concept grew in my head based on that reaction. There's energy you can't buy — the essence of people that can't be bought or bottled, and lives within them. That's how I feel about myself — I can't be bought.[4]
The album sold 11,869 copies in the United States in its first week of release. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 40.[12] As of February 15, 2009, the album has sold 34,822 copies.[13] In Canada, it entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number eight, with 4,247 copies sold in the first week.[14]
The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. AllMusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "an entirely solid album," also stating "this freedom fighting and socially conscious writing is tempered with hooky club tracks that never fail."[15]USA Today gave it 3 out of 4 stars, noting "his potent blend of hip-hop and dancehall gives him a flavor all his own."[16]PopMatters gave the album a 6/10 rating, writing "although many of the tracks here are glossy pop productions, Kardinal has not really changed since he was first heard in the '90s."[17] The album won the award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.[18]
