Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hip Hop With A Message: K'NAAN


I'm not going to name him as an artist "You Should Know" just yet, but he's on his way there. So here's it is, presenting to you: K'NAAN, a Somalia-born rapper that raps about more than riches, fame and chicks. And they said it couldn't be done...

K'NAAN is already well known in Canada, and his music is starting to permeate the US and see some big interest in areas of the US like Des Moines (Iowa), Detroit (Michigan), Toledo (Ohio), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Columbia (South Carolina), Springfield/St. Louis (Missouri), Minneapolis/St. Paul (Minnesota), Tampa/St. Petersburg (Florida), Fresno (California), among others, and is definitely a grower.

Take a listen to the music, and take some time to read his inspiring bio. He's fresh like a Kanye, but more politically aware and off the beaten path like a Common or a Talib Kweli. You've never heard hip hop like this. His album is out on February 24th, and will feature guest appearances by Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Mos Def, Damian Marley, Chubb Rock and Kirk Hammett.

Having heard the whole album myself recently, and not even being a huge hip hop fan per say, I do have to say that K'NAAN brings something new to the table. If you like hip hop with a REAL message, here are some tracks you should check out:

-I Come Prepared (feat. Damian Marley)
-Bang Bang (feat. Adam Levine)
-If Rap Gets Jealous (feat. Kirk Hammett)
and ESPECIALLY:
-T.I.A. (This Is Africa)
-ABC's (feat. Chubb Rock)

[You can listen to a few of these at his MySpace page.]

Click here to view a promotional widget where you can watch the music video for "ABC's" and read his inspirational bio.

But more than anything else, my fave K'NAAN track I've heard is this song he did on a whim with Nelly Furtado (Where did she go? We haven't heard anything from her in what feels like forever!), during one of her promo specials with MTV. It's called "Going Away". As far as I've heard, the song most likely won't be on K'NAAN's album release, but I have heard insider word that it may be released on iTunes as a bonus single at some point soon.


1 comment:

Tiffany Taeyeon said...

Yeah he's not bad. I checked the myspace. I liked Somalia the best!

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