Intimate show proves K'naan is about more than just music
The miniscule amount of students who made it to the K'naan show last Tuesday witnessed the definition of powerful, politically charged music.
The “banner” K'naan refers to are the stereotypes North Americans believe about Africa and its people. During his show, that message was heard loud and clear not only lyrically, but also through the authoritative beats of the drum.
His debut album, entitled The Dustyfoot Philosopher, was released this past year. The Grammy award winning team Track and Field, who also produced tracks for Nelly Fertado, worked on K'naan's first single, “Soobax.”
“The first single ‘Soobax' - it was the US that picked it up. Much Music refused to play it. It was a little too real, which is strange because MTV picked it up and played the shit out of it,” he explains.
Even though Much Music hasn't given K'naan the exposure he deserves, most Canadians would recognize him from his performance at the Live 8 concert in Barrie over the summer.
“People were panicking around me saying, ‘Man you are going to perform at Live 8. It's going to be huge.' Even my good friends know, I've been battling and laughing at the thought- like what does that mean that I'm going to be in front of big numbers?
“I will remember one thing (about Live 8). We were a part of a time when artists gathered to stand up for a cause that has to do with Westerners reviewing where they stand in the political arena in the world. How they continue, without their knowledge even, to impose economic imbalances to other parts of the world. We were a part of the people that said no more to that.”
For K'naan, the enormity of Live 8 didn't even phase him, nor was the experience his most memorable. It was his 2001 performance at the 50th anniversary of the United Nation Commission for Refugees that will remain forever engraved in his memory.
“This for me was not a brave heroic thing to do, it was a necessity. I needed to be able to live with myself. And I was here at the United Nations 50th anniversary in Geneva in a palace and I'm looking at war leaders and some of them have been failures to my country. I'm from those streets that they have failed. I wanted to be able let myself sleep at night in peace. I said some things that were truthful, that connected them the responsibility. I got a standing ovation…. It was memorable to me ‘cause they had given moments to justify my existence.”
K'naan's message was heard. A year ago the artist was honored with the Messenger of Truth Award at the United Nations World Firm in Spain.
Although K'naan's work is respected on an international stage, he is aware that the North American audience glorifies a different kind of hip-hop culture.
“Rap in America is made from something for everything. Hip Hop in Africa is made from a dream for nothing,” he explains.
He respects the work of artists like 50 cent and Fat Joe, but considers them pop stars. “I think Gil Scott Heron, although considered a poet, is an icon, so is Bo Diddley- first guy to rap. I think Mos Def is a cultural icon from the US. I think the Dead Prez are icons from the US.”
“The plan is that I will pack my whole crew up — my band, my production team, other producers I want to work with — and we will all live in Africa for the duration of recording this new album,” K'naan said about working on his next record. He will also be collaborating with Mos Def and other up and coming hip-hop artists in the near future.
K'naan will be back at Fanshawe in early October to film For Real, a television documentary which, according to K'naan, explores different parts of the world through hip-hop.
Even though his father still lives in Somalia, K'naan has never returned. With a constant touring schedule of spoken word performances and hip hop gigs, home is a forgiven concept to him. “A good friend said to me, ‘Exile has its own flag.' I'm starting to agree with that.”
Those who didn't attend, or left before it began, robbed themselves of K'naan's soft, reggae reminiscent, hip-hop vocals and strong African drums that serve as a soundtrack for a struggling, yet beautiful, African nation.
K'naan was born in war torn Somalia, a mid civil upheaval, poverty and an 81 per cent illiteracy rate. He left his homeland at age 13 on the last commercial flight out of the volatile country and immigrated to Toronto, via Harlem. He draws inspiration, both lyrically and politically, from his childhood experiences and the current turmoil in Somalia.
The “banner” K'naan refers to are the stereotypes North Americans believe about Africa and its people. During his show, that message was heard loud and clear not only lyrically, but also through the authoritative beats of the drum.
His debut album, entitled The Dustyfoot Philosopher, was released this past year. The Grammy award winning team Track and Field, who also produced tracks for Nelly Fertado, worked on K'naan's first single, “Soobax.”
“The first single ‘Soobax' - it was the US that picked it up. Much Music refused to play it. It was a little too real, which is strange because MTV picked it up and played the shit out of it,” he explains.
Even though Much Music hasn't given K'naan the exposure he deserves, most Canadians would recognize him from his performance at the Live 8 concert in Barrie over the summer.
“People were panicking around me saying, ‘Man you are going to perform at Live 8. It's going to be huge.' Even my good friends know, I've been battling and laughing at the thought- like what does that mean that I'm going to be in front of big numbers?
“I will remember one thing (about Live 8). We were a part of a time when artists gathered to stand up for a cause that has to do with Westerners reviewing where they stand in the political arena in the world. How they continue, without their knowledge even, to impose economic imbalances to other parts of the world. We were a part of the people that said no more to that.”
For K'naan, the enormity of Live 8 didn't even phase him, nor was the experience his most memorable. It was his 2001 performance at the 50th anniversary of the United Nation Commission for Refugees that will remain forever engraved in his memory.
“This for me was not a brave heroic thing to do, it was a necessity. I needed to be able to live with myself. And I was here at the United Nations 50th anniversary in Geneva in a palace and I'm looking at war leaders and some of them have been failures to my country. I'm from those streets that they have failed. I wanted to be able let myself sleep at night in peace. I said some things that were truthful, that connected them the responsibility. I got a standing ovation…. It was memorable to me ‘cause they had given moments to justify my existence.”
K'naan's message was heard. A year ago the artist was honored with the Messenger of Truth Award at the United Nations World Firm in Spain.
Although K'naan's work is respected on an international stage, he is aware that the North American audience glorifies a different kind of hip-hop culture.
“Rap in America is made from something for everything. Hip Hop in Africa is made from a dream for nothing,” he explains.
He respects the work of artists like 50 cent and Fat Joe, but considers them pop stars. “I think Gil Scott Heron, although considered a poet, is an icon, so is Bo Diddley- first guy to rap. I think Mos Def is a cultural icon from the US. I think the Dead Prez are icons from the US.”
“The plan is that I will pack my whole crew up — my band, my production team, other producers I want to work with — and we will all live in Africa for the duration of recording this new album,” K'naan said about working on his next record. He will also be collaborating with Mos Def and other up and coming hip-hop artists in the near future.
K'naan will be back at Fanshawe in early October to film For Real, a television documentary which, according to K'naan, explores different parts of the world through hip-hop.
Even though his father still lives in Somalia, K'naan has never returned. With a constant touring schedule of spoken word performances and hip hop gigs, home is a forgiven concept to him. “A good friend said to me, ‘Exile has its own flag.' I'm starting to agree with that.”
