K'naan

"Knaan" redirects here. For the Czech dialect of the same name, see Knaanic language.
K'naan
كينان

K'naan in 2010
Background information
Birth name Keinan Abdi Warsame
Born 1 February 1978
Mogadishu, Somalia
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres alternative hip hop, world, alternative rock
Occupation(s) instrumentalist, rapper, singer, poet
Instruments vocals, piano, guitar, percussion
Years active 2001–present
Labels A&M/Octone
Associated acts Rayzak, Kierscey Rand, Adam Levine, David Guetta, Nelly Furtado, Nas
Website knaanmusic.com

Keinan Abdi Warsame (Somali: Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, Arabic: كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ‎ Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama),[1] better known by his stage name K'naan (/ˈkeɪnɑːn/[2]), is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. He rose to prominence with the success of his single "Wavin' Flag", which was chosen as Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Besides hip-hop, K'naan's sound is influenced by elements of Somali music, Ethio-jazz and world music. He is also involved in various philanthropic initiatives.

Personal life

K'naan was born in 1978 in Mogadishu, situated in the southeastern Banaadir province of Somalia.[3] He hails from the Hawiye clan.[4] K'naan's family was from an artistic background. His grandfather was a famous poet, and his aunt Magool was a renowned singer.[5]

K'naan spent his childhood in the national capital, Mogadishu.[6] His father, Abdi, had left earlier when he was still a boy to work as a taxi driver in New York City.[7] K'naan's early years were idyllic and enveloped in poetry and song, with his aunt Magool often singing to him.[5] This changed following the start of the civil war, when at the age of 12, three of his friends were shot by an older adolescent gunman.[7][8] K'naan also narrowly escaped death one day at his school, when he mistook a grenade that he had found in the dirt for a potato and threw it away just before it detonated. These incidents and the general escalation in violence prompted his mother to seek a visa so that the family could rejoin his father in New York. At the age of 13, K'naan and his mother and two siblings, older brother Liban and younger sister Sagal, subsequently moved to the United States. They stayed in New York for half a year before relocating to Toronto, Canada, where K'naan's dad had settled.[7] His family still resides there.[9]

In his new environment, K'naan began learning English, partly by listening to hip hop albums by artists like Nas and Rakim. Despite the fact that he could not yet speak the language, he taught himself hip-hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically.[10] He then also began rapping.[11] While growing up in the Rexdale neighborhood, K'naan lost many friends to murder, suicide, prison and deportation.[12]

K'naan was briefly married to Deqa, a pharmacy technician, with whom he has two sons, born in 2005 and 2007.[7][13] They divorced before he started touring for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Coca-Cola.[14]

K'naan is Muslim.[15] His name, Keynaan (/ˈkeɪnɑːn/), means "traveller" in the Afro-Asiatic Somali language.[5]

Career

K'naan became a friend and associate of Canadian promoter Sol Guy, who helped him secure a speaking engagement before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999, where K'naan performed a spoken word piece criticizing the UN for its failed peacekeeping missions to Somalia.[16] One of the audience members, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album Building Bridges, a project through which K'naan was able to tour the world.

This project led to his work at other UN events, as well as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Halifax Pop Explosion. It also helped him meet Canadian producer Brian West and Jarvis Church and his Track & Field team in 2002, who produced his debut album The Dusty Foot Philosopher, which was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. In 2006, it won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, and was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. It also won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the newcomer category for 2007.[17][18] The Dusty Foot Philosopher was re-released and repackaged as a "Deluxe Edition" featuring new mixes and a bonus DVD in the United States (and various international territories) by the emerging media company and record label iM (Interdependent Media, Inc.) in 2008.

K'naan toured and collaborated with artists like Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, will.i.am, The Roots, Dead Prez, and Pharoahe Monch on tours such as Live 8[19] and Breedlove Odyssey.[9] He also collaborated with Damian Marley on the "Welcome to Jamrock" touring session.[20]

K'naan released The Dusty Foot on the Road, a collection of recordings made during his world tour on Wrasse Records.[21]

K'naan rose to mainstream popularity by participating in the 2008 BET Awards Cypher. This was his first appearance on American television. His second studio album, Troubadour, was released on 24 February 2009 on A&M/Octone Records, and distributed through Universal Music Group worldwide. The album's first single, "ABC's", was released in late 2008. K'naan's music has featured in several video games such as Madden NFL 09 (with his song "ABC's") and FIFA 06 (with his song "Soobax"). The song "If Rap Gets Jealous", a re-recording of a track of the same name – with different verses – from The Dusty Foot Philosopher, features Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. K'naan was also the first featured artist on X3, a collaborative project between CBC Radio 3, Exclaim! magazine and aux.tv to promote new Canadian music.[22] In July 2010, he performed a cover of U2's "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" for iheartradio.[23] In 24 January 2012, K'naan released a 5 song EP under the title More Beautiful Than Silence including songs such as "Nothing to Lose", "Better", "Is Anybody Out There?". The songs also include collaborations with Nas and Nelly Furtado.

K'naan's 2012 album, Country, God or the Girl, was met with little of the critical acclaim and success that Troubadour had received. Unlike Troubadour, which was produced almost entirely by production team Track and Field, Country, God or the Girl featured a wide range of different producers, many of whom work on more mainstream projects. After the release of the album, K'naan published an article in the New York Times explaining and apologizing for the change in his sound. "My lyrics should change, my label's executives said; radio programmers avoid subjects too far from fun and self-absorption," recounts K'naan. "So I began to say yes. Yes to trying out songs with A-list producers. Yes to moving production from Kingston to Los Angeles." In the end, K'naan states "I had not made my Marley or my Dylan, or even my K'naan; I had made an album in which a few genuine songs are all but drowned out by the loud siren of ambition. Fatima had become Mary, and Mohamed, Adam."[24]

In 2012, K'naan published a children's book, When I Get Older: The Story Behind Wavin' Flag.[25]

Style and influences

Jim Welte has said K'naan has "a sound that fuses Bob Marley, conscious American hip-hop, and brilliant protest poetry."[11] His voice and style has been compared to Eminem,[10] but his subject matter is very different; according to K'naan, he makes "urgent music with a message", talking about the situation in his homeland of Somalia and calling for an end to violence and bloodshed.[26] He specifically tries to avoid gangsta rap clichés and posturing,[27] saying:

“ All Somalis know that gangsterism isn't to brag about. The kids that I was growing up with [in Rexdale] would wear baggy [track] suit pants, and a little jacket from Zellers or something, and they'd walk into school, and all the cool kids would be like, 'Ah, man, look at these Somalis. Yo, you're a punk!' And the other kid won't say nothing, but that kid, probably, has killed fifteen people.[16] ”

This statement was made to explain his position on the world of difference which exists between where he grew up, and the ghettos of the first world.[28] Nonetheless, K'naan denies that he is overtly political, instead explaining that he "[shows] the state of the world [and] if you call it like it is you're being political."[29] His own opinion of his music is that it's a "mix of tradition and [a] kind of articulation of my own life and [..] my past experiences."[29]

K'naan has said that he is influenced by Somali music and the traditional instruments of Somalia.[30] His 2009 album, Troubadour, also draws heavily from Ethiopian sources, particularly Ethio-Jazz by Alemayehu Eshete and Tilahun Gessesse.[31][32]

Notable live performances

Prior to the release of Troubadour, K'naan performed with a small acoustic band, consisting of Rayzak (back-up vocals), Kierscey Rand (acoustic guitar) and UDOGG-The Funky Drummer (djembe and drums).[33] This style was an essential element of what set K'naan apart from most hip-hop acts. More than that, it reflected K'naan's value of meaningful lyrics over shallow theatrics. One of the last performances of this band was on 16 March 2009 when K'naan rendered four songs from the newly launched album for CBC's program Q with Jian Ghomeshi, although Rayzak continued to join his subsequent shows and Kierscey Rand made occasional appearances, such as his World Cup Trophy Tour.

Since Troubadour, K'naan has toured almost exclusively with a larger electric ensemble – consisting of drums, bass, electric guitar, and keyboards[34] – and his performances now also feature elaborate lighting. This change in showmanship, along with his collaborations with such high profile artists as Adam Levine and Mos Def, has helped to shift K'naan more into the mainstream flow of the music industry and has helped him gain exposure to a wider audience.

Arabesque

In 2009, K'naan, along with 800 other artists from the Arab world, participated in the Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.. The three-week gathering, which took five years and $10 million to organize, is the largest showcase of Arab art ever held in the United States. The festival featured music, dance, theater and many art and cultural exhibitions, with artists carefully selected according to the quality of their artistic performance. Arabesque also provided a platform from which artists from the Arab world could correct prevailing and often negative misconceptions regarding their identity, and offered an opportunity for the participating artists to reclaim their right to self-definition. K'naan put on a free live show during the festival's opening weekend, attracting many fans toward his message of reframing the limited perception of Arab cultures in North America.[35][36][37]

2010 FIFA World Cup tour

A remixed version of K'naan's single, "Wavin' Flag," was chosen as Coca-Cola's anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was also used in the commercials for the pre-game, which was held in South Africa.[38] Additionally, the track is in the soundtrack for the official EA Sports 2010 FIFA World Cup video game. In December 2009, K'naan performed the song live during the sponsor's FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, which took him to 86 countries around the world.[39] His performance of "Wavin' Flag" was featured in the Top 10 hits in 11 different countries across the world. This also included number one hits in Mexico, Austria, China, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In order to appeal to different people around the world, K'naan also recorded the song with various local artists such as David Bisbal, Jacky Cheung, Jane Zhang, Nancy Ajram and Tattoo Colour.

No Show at Simon Fraser University

On 21 September 2010, K'naan was scheduled as the headlining act of a student organised concert for World Peace Day which was to benefit girls' education in rural Ghana. At 11pm the singer cancelled, for reasons that have been reported as relating to finances.[40] His manager stated that, "this is the first time in K'naan's seven-year career that he has pulled out of a performance for such a reason".[41] K'naan announced on his Twitter following the concert "amazing how human beings need a bogeyman. It's even better when they can turn their heroes to foes. SFU, check your own back yard for faults."[42]

Coke's 125th Anniversary

On 8 May 2011, K'naan performed live at Centennial Olympic Park for Coca Cola's employees in light of Coke's 125th anniversary.

"Decade of Difference" Clinton Concert

On 15 October 2011 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, K'naan was one of eight performers at the "Decade of Difference" concert. The concert celebrated former US President Bill Clinton's 65th birthday and the 10-year anniversary of the Clinton Foundation. K'naan was the third performer of the evening, following sets by Stevie Wonder and Kenny Chesney and preceding sets by Juanes, Usher, Lady Gaga, and The Edge and Bono of U2.[43] K'naan performed three songs – "Bulletproof Pride," "America," and "Wavin' Flag." Toward the end of "Bulletproof Pride," K'naan surprised the audience by bringing Bono onstage for a duet. K'naan also spoke about his childhood in Somalia and how President Clinton's efforts overseas positively impacted his youth.[44]

Musical feud

In 2005, the Canadian music scene featured a low-key feud between K'naan and Yonis k-os, one of the most prominent Canadian hip-hop artists. Following the release of the music video for the song Soobax, which was shot by K'naan and a film crew in Kenya, k-os released a track B-Boy Stance attacking K'naan: "They took cameras to Africa for pictures to rhyme / Over; Oh, yes, the great pretenders [...] Religious entertainers who want to be life savers." Though the feud never became high-profile, with K'naan expressing confusion at the attack and respect for k-os, he nonetheless responded with the mixtape Revolutionary Avocado which argued "You the all-knowing with a beer bottle / Wishing you was Plato and me Aristotle? / ...Suburban negro turned hip-hop hero / Is there a reason he really hates me, though?" – a rebuttal CBC's Matthew McKinnon called "cold-cocking the champ".[10]

Collaborations

Philanthropy

In addition to his artistic career, K'naan has been involved with various philanthropic initiatives. In 2011, he became a co-spokesman with Bono to raise awareness of that year's drought in Eastern Africa. Also teaming up with close associate Sol Guy, K'naan performed various concerts for the cause.[49][50][51]

Additionally, K'naan was also active in promoting the Canadian Bill C-393 to help increase medical assistance to countries in Africa.[52] He teamed up with James Orbinski,[53] a Canadian humanitarian physician and co-founder of Dignitas International.[54]

Awards and nominations

Discography

Main article: K'naan discography

Studio albums

Writings

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Contents" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  2. ↑ Carter Flinn, Sue (13 October 2005). "War & Beats: Somali-born hip-hop artist K'naan wants his music to have purpose.". The Coast. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Beautiful Dreamer". Thestranger.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  4. ↑ "K'naan". FIENIPA. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cowie. F, Del."The Beautiful Struggle", Exclaim!, February 2009.
  6. ↑ Blair, Elizabeth (6 January 2009). "Somali Rapper K'Naan Schools American MCs". NPR. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Hannon, Gerald (December 2008). "The Prince of Little Mogadishu". Toronto Life. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "A Son Returns to the Agony of Somalia". The New York Times. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2014. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Egere-Cooper, Matilda (30 May 2006). "K'Naan: Rapping about War". London: The Independent. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 McKinnon, Matthew (30 June 2005). "Kicking Up Dust". CBC. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jim, Welte (7 August 2006). "MP3.com Live: K'Naan breaks out". Mp3.com. CNET.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2010. With a sound that fuses Bob Marley, conscious American hip-hop, and brilliant protest poetry, the Somalian MC was the most promising artist at the 2006 Reggae on the River festival.
  12. ↑ "Soccer and song: K'naan's passport to global exposure". CBC News. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  13. ↑ Infantry, Ashante (15 February 2009). "Success lies close to home for K'Naan". The Star (Toronto).
  14. ↑ Tetzeli, Rick (1 November 2010). "Portrait of the Rapper as a Young Marketer: How K'naan Delivered on Coca-Cola's $300 Million Bet". Fast Company.
  15. ↑ McKinnon, Matthew (30 June 2005). "Kicking Up Dust / The remarkable hip-hop odyssey of Toronto's K'naan". CBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Doherty, Mike (10 February 2005). "Wandering star". Eye Weekly. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  17. ↑ Lusk, John. "Awards for World Music 2007 – Newcomers". BBC. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  18. ↑ CBC Arts (31 March 2007). "Canadian musician K'naan captures BBC prize". CBC. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  19. ↑ Joudrey, Stephanie (4 July 2005). "K'naan Looks Back at Africa During Career High". Chart. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  20. ↑ Brown, Kirk. "K'naan joins the Mind Control Tour of the U.S. with Stephen Marley and Damian Marley". Reggae Liftstyle. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  21. ↑ "K'naan – The Dusty Foot on the Road Album". Wrasse Records. 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  22. ↑ "X3 Artist of the Month: K'naan". X3artist.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  23. ↑ "Two New iheartradio Videos: Robyn Strips Down Alicia Keys, K’naan Goofs Around for U2 " Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  24. ↑ "K'naan, on Censoring Himself For Success". The New York Times. 8 December 2012.
  25. ↑ Greg Quill, "The story behind K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag”". Toronto Star, 27 September 2012.
  26. ↑ Setterington, Joanne (17 March 2007). "K'NAAN – If Rap Gets Jealous". South by Southwest. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  27. ↑ Colle, Liam (3 November 2005). "NOW HEAR THIS!: K'naan". PopMatters. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  28. ↑ Henley, Tara (21 April 2005). "K'naan reps African hip-hop". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Desrosiers, Kendra (15 June 2007). "K'Naan Interview". The Source. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  30. ↑ "RapReview Feature for May 13, 2008 – K'naan Interview". Rapreviews.com. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  31. ↑ "Is the Copy Right law only for the Selected Few?". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  32. ↑ Gordon, Scott (11 February 2009). "K'Naan at The Annex | Music | Recap | The A.V. Club Madison". Madison.decider.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  33. ↑ "K'naan – Hoobaale". YouTube. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  34. ↑ "K'Naan – If Rap Gets Jealous (Live in Vancouver)". YouTube. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  35. ↑ The A-Word Reclaimed – How performance art can change the way Americans identify with the Arab world – The Root
  36. ↑ An Arab fusion of art, music, theatre and fashion in Washington – Arabesque festival challenges US perceptions – Al Arabiya
  37. ↑ "Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  38. ↑ "Toronto hip-hop artist K'naan says World Cup anthem is a 'huge thing'". cp.org. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  39. ↑ "K'Naan Celebrates His World Cup Anthem". Billboard.biz. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  40. ↑ "K'naan Ditches SFU Show". Metronews.ca. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  41. ↑ "After the Wavin Flag Comes the Wagging Fingers for Knaan". Toronto: Theglobeandmail.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-21., archived at the Internet Wayback Machine
  42. ↑ "The Peak – Tempers flare after K'naan cancellation – News". The-peak.ca. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  43. ↑ "Yahoo! Live – "Decade of Difference" Clinton Concert coverage". Yahoo.com. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  44. ↑ Eric Adelson (18 October 2011). "Clinton concert video: Watch K'naan perform". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  45. ↑ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Toronto: Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  46. ↑ "Niet compatibele browser". Facebook. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  47. ↑ FILM: Bouncing Cats. Thecouchsessions.com (31 May 2010). Retrieved on 2012-06-06.
  48. ↑ "Bouncing Cats Synopsisl".
  49. ↑ McKiernan, Kathy. "Bono and K'naan meet with Somali Minnesotans to discuss Crisis in Horn of Africa". ONE.
  50. ↑ Neighborhood Initiative. Npr.org (26 August 2011). Retrieved on 2012-06-06.
  51. ↑ Emerging Explorers (August 2011). "Sol Guy, John Thome, New Media Cultural Storytellers".
  52. ↑ Evans, Pat. (28 April 2011) C-393. Policyalternatives.ca. Retrieved on 2012-06-06.
  53. ↑ Soloman, Evan. "Interview with musician and activist for Canadian Bill C-393". The Video News Portal.
  54. ↑ "Dignitas International".
  55. ↑ "AFRIMMA Nominees". African Muzik Magazine. Retrieved 23 May 2014.

References

External links

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