K'Naan: Lyrics Based Off of Teenage Struggles

Keinan Abdi Warsame, a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, was born in 1978 in Somalia. He lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991, until he was 13 where he moved briefly to New York City before moving to the Toronto neighborhood of Rexdale, where there was a large Somali population. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most famous singer and his grandfather, Haji Mohammad, was a poet. There, he began to learn English by listening to American hip-hop artists such as Nas and Rakim. He taught himself hip-hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically. During his teenage years, K'Naan lost many friends to murder, suicide, prison, and deportation.

K'Naan became friends and associates with Canadian promotor, Sol Guy, who, in 1999, helped secure him to speak before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where K'Naan criticized the UN for its failure to aid Somalia. Senegalese singer, Youssou N'Dour was so impressed that he invited K'Naan to contribute to his 2001 album, "Building Bridges." This project helped him meet Canadian producer Brian West and Jarvis Church in 2002, who produced his debut album, "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" in 2005. In 2006, this album won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year and was also nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. K'Naan toured and collaborated with artists such as Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, Will.I.Am, The Roots, and Dead Prez. He collaborated with Damian Marley on the "Welcome to Jamrock" touring session.

K'Naan rose in popularity after the 2008 BET Awards Cypher- his first appearance on American television. His second album, Troubadour, was released on February 24, 2009. Two of his songs from this album, "ABC's" and and "Soobax," were featured in Madden NFL '09 and FIFA, respectively. On July 24, 2012, K'Naan will release a 5-song EP with the name "More Beautiful Than Silence" including my favorite song, "Anybody Out There".

K'Naan's own opinion of his music is that it is a "mix of tradition and a kind of articulation of my own life and my past experiences." The lyrics of many of his songs draw upon his childhood and his years growing up. He tries to avoid "gangster rap" cliches and to support this, he writes, "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." K'Naan told this story to explain his position on the world of difference which exists between where he grew up and the ghettos of the first world.

K'Naan's latest song, and my personal favorite, "Anybody Out There" features Nelly Furtado. It discusses the separate lives of a teenage girl and a teenage boy who feel alone and lost in the world. There is an excellent music video that helps to tell the story of these two teens. Another of K'Naan's songs, "Waving Flag," was lyrically changed and used by Coca-Cola as one of the anthems for the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which was held in South Africa. An all-time favorite song of mine, "In the Beginning" has a very upbeat and fun tribal beat. K'Naan is another fun musician to blast in the car or listen to on the beach.