Saturday, June 06, 2009
Americans will never fully grasp the distant and very pressing horrors of the Third World, but it certainly helps that K’Naan absorbed hip-hop and emigrated from his native, brutally chaotic Somalia to Canada during his youth.
He’s obviously part of the African music community, championed by Senegalese pop star Youssou N’Dour and mixing the melody and rhythm of African folk into many of his tracks, especially on his 2005 album The Dusty Foot Philosopher.
Just as importantly, he has an ear for the shiny hooks and cocky flows of popular Western hip-hop—all the better to deliver his thoughts about poverty, Somali pirates, injustice, and endurance on his new Troubadour.
Source: Decider Twin Cities, June 06, 2009