Land Mines and Somalian pirates, are just a couple of the things mentioned in K’naan remix to Kid Cudi‘s hit Day & Nite. K’naan is a very talented lyricist born in Mogadishu, Somalia who moved to the States after things deteriorated in 1991 during the Somali Civil War. K’naan‘s mother applied for an exit visa that luckly was approved on the last day the United States Embassy was open. They left to the USA on the last commercial flight out of the country. Settling with relatives in Harlem before then moving to the Toronto, Ontario, he quickly started to listen to hip hop through rappers like Nas and Rakim. He started copying lyrics and style phonetically and later began to perform on open mic events. K’naan style has been compared with the fuse of Bob Marley sound, with the voice and style of Eminem.
His second album, “Troubadour” released in February, 2009 has been very well received selling 15,000 on its very first week. His single “Wavin’ Flag” made it to#99 on the new Billboard Hot 100 Chart. With that said, I do not think the words in his melodic poetic driven songs get enough attention. Simple and sincere words about a complex world struggling to survive, most of the songs on Troubadour are a reflection of reality rendered with hope for a brighter future. In his song “Take a Minute” we are reminded that even in the toughest of times we can’t let the moment take over our dreams and ambitions, we are all in this together and giving is always the best option.
Dayless Nite (Knaan Day N’ Nite Remix)
