K'naan!

     Although most may know K'naan for his hit single, "Wavin Flag" that has been played non-stop recently on the radio; for myself, he is much more than just a talented musician.  K'naan, who was born in Somalia, began his musical and artistic career from a young age and his music and art reflects his childhood growing up in war torn Somalia. K'naan grew up in Mogadishu, Somalia where he spent most of his childhood living through the Somalian Civil War, which began in 1991.  While most of K'naan's childhood was spend avoiding death, he took the time to listen to rap and hip hop music because it would keep him distracted from what was going on outside of his home.  When K'naan was 13 years old, his mother, brother, sister and himself moved to Harlem where other relatives were living.  After a brief stay in Harlem, the family moved to Toronto, Ontario to the neighborhood of Rexdale.  K'naan spent the next couple of years in his life trying to learn English and become more involved in the rap and hip hop world.  In grade 10, K'naan dropped out of school and so began his carreer in music.
     Having left Somalia on the last commercial flight to ever leave the country and to have seen the government completely collapse, K'naan ventured to Canada with a purpose.  With K'naan's persistence and natural lyrical gift, he secured a spot at a speaking engagement before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999.  It was during this performance where K'naan performed a spoken word piece about the UN's failed aid missions in Somalia.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K'naan)  Becuase of K'naan's first performance involving the United Nations, he then became more involved working in efforts to bridge the gap between the UN and the people of the world.  K'naan performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Halifax Pop Explosion as ways of getting his music as well as his message across to the public.  This tour of concerts led K'naan to meeting Canadian producer Jarvis Church, who then produced K'naan's first album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher.  The album, which was released in 2005, won the Juno award for Rap Recording of the Year as well as multiple other international awards for best new recording artist.  When K'naan released his single, Wavin' Flag, in 2009, he began to gain his international popularity and stardom. 
     Critics and writers describe K'naan's music as a blend between conscious American hip hop, Bob Marley and political protest poetry.  Although K'naan has been compared to the likes of American Rapper Eminem, he insists that his writing is more political and has a commitment to voicing his issues with society.  In the statement below, K'naan explains why being a 'gangster' isn't always something to brag about:
                
     "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 ("Wandering star". Eye Weekly http://web.archive.org/web/20070926235909/http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_02.10.05/beat/knaan.php)

     As well as being politically active and standing up for what he believes in, K'naan is a perfect example of how young performing artists can make a difference and be great role models for the children in our society.  In a 2008 interview, K'naan stated that he had never smoked any drugs or had any alcoholic beverages in his life, even after touring with the Marley's who are known for this. 
     Finally, K'naan is most recently known for his hit single, Wavin' Flag and especially for the recent Canadian collaboration of this song to raise money for the terrible earthquake in Haiti earlier this year. 
    I believe it is important to listen to the music K'naan produces each year with an ear for the lyrics and what he is actually trying to say.  A lot of the time, people listen to music in the background of something they are doing, without paying attention to what is being said.  With a brilliant artist like K'naan, it is even more important to appreciate his talent of writing and lyrics that no other artist today achieves quite like himself!

To read more about K'naan, please visit the following sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K'naan

http://knaanmusic.ning.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC8V8S_REhk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB7L1BIDELc

(http://melbomusic.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/knaanpub1.jpg)