Born in Mogadishu, Somalia,[3]
K'naan spent his childhood in the district of Wardhiigleey ("The River of Blood") and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most famous singers. K'naan's grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet. K'naan is also a Muslim. His name, K'naan, means "traveller" in the Somali language.
K'naan's father, Abdi, left the country, along with many other intellectuals to settle in New York City and work as a cab driver. He mailed money home to his family (As mentioned in "If Rap Gets Jealous").[4] As the civil war continued and the situation in Somalia continued to deteriorate, K'naan's mother, Marian Mohamed, petitioned the United States embassy for an exit visa. In 1991, on the last day the US embassy remained open as the government of Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed their visa was approved, and they boarded the last commercial flight out of the country.[5]
They joined relatives in Harlem, New York City, before moving to the Toronto, Ontario neighbourhood of Rexdale, where there was a large Somali Canadian community.[6] His family still lives there. In his new country, K'naan began learning English, some through hip hop albums by artists like Nas and Rakim. Despite speaking no English, the young K'naan taught himself hip hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically.[5] He then also began rapping.[4] He dropped out of school in grade ten to travel for a time, rapping at open mic events, and eventually returned to Toronto.
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 aid missions to Somalia.[7] 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.[6]
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 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.[8][9] The Dusty Foot Philosopher will be re-released and re-packaged 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.
Since then, he has been on tour promoting his album and working on his follow-up release, "Troubadour," his debut album for new label A&M/Octone Records. He has also been working with artists like Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, The Roots, Dead Prez, and Pharoahe Monch on tours such as Live 8[10] and Breedlove Odyssey.[6] He also collaborated with Damian Marley on the "Welcome to Jamrock" touring session.[11]
In 2005, the Canadian music scene featured a low-key feud between K'naan and 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".[5] He recently released The Dusty Foot on the Road, a collection of recording made during his recent world tour on Wrasse Records.[12]
His second studio album, Troubadour, was released on February 24, 2009 on A&M/Octone Records, and will be distributed through Universal Music Group worldwide. The album's first single, "ABC's", was released to radio in late 2008. K'naan 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 rerecording 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
In a December 30, 2008 interview with Hard Knock TV K'naan states that Somali piracy while not to be condoned has a reason for existence. According to K'naan Somali fishermen organized and armed themselves so that they could protect the Somali shoreline from illegal dumping of Nuclear Toxic Waste from private companies. He goes on to state that greed and the lure of money eventually produced what we see today as Somali piracy.[14]
On April 15, 2009 K'naan publicly criticised the approach to the problem of Somali piracy after the kidnapping of Richard Phillips of the United States flagged MV Maersk Alabama container ship 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of the Somalian port city of Eyl.[15]
“ It has no basis, no roots, and I'm not talking about, when I say basis - it's not the same as justifications [...] but how there came to be pirates, I think that is probably the most undiscussed thing in major media today - it's as if they just sprung from nowhere. But Somalis have long known about the issues
Prior to the release of Troubadour, K'naan performed with a small acoustic band, consisting of Rayzak (back-up vocals), Kiercey (acoustic guitar) and Mad Dog (djembe).[24] 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.
Since Troubadour, K'naan has toured exclusively with a larger electric ensemble - consisting of drums, bass, electric guitar, and keyboards [25] - 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.
[edit] Discography
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.[19]. 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."[20]. 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."[20]
K'naan has said that he is influenced by Somali music and the traditional instruments of Somalia.[21] His most recent album, Troubadour, also draws heavily from Ethiopian sources, particularly Ethio-Jazz by Alemayehu Eshete and Tilahun Gessesse