K'NAAN: Somalian born Canadian emcee.
K'naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, the only country on the planet that does not have an active government. His father moved to Harlem in New York to work as a taxi driver. Not only sending money back home, but hip hop albums as well. After his 11th birthday K'naan moved to Harlem then relocated to Toronto, Canada where he remains. Now at the age of 28 he can reflect on his past experiences & correlate or illustrate the absurd content of some rappers lyrics. The track What's Hardcore?, is an interesting song that politely untangles the vapid fantasy lyrics of American rappers who think they live ghetto or have it hard. He does come to terms with the fact that each of us are only able to determine our position by the surroundings we grew up in, but he does at least comment on some real war stories such as those of his own countries civil war.
It's a fantastic album, lyrically & musically & speaks so much more than many of those records in which the emcees are fooling themselves thinking that the battlefields of the American suburbs are harsh. If you want depth from a gifted, yet still growing lyricist, then this might just offer something different with a hefty dose of calories for your mind & soul.
• K'Naan website
• MP3: K'NAAN - What's Hardcore
• VIDEO: K'NAAN - Strugglin'
• LINK: Canadian article - Canoe.ca
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