September 16, 2005
K'naan: the Dusty Foot Philosopher
Toronto based, Somali-Canadian MC, K'naan, who was the talk of this past summer's folk fest and who's "Stugglin'" video is in rotation on Much Music, offers a unique perspective on the Afro-American musical art form we know as hip hop. While many MCs talk about how rough their hoods are, K'naan raps: "If I rhymed about home and got descriptive, I'd make 50 Cent look like Limp Bizkit." (thanks Boon!)
Like Fela Kuti before him, who reincorporated the African rhythmic offspring in the States back into his own Afro-beat, K'naan provides an interesting link between hip hop and his own African background. Read the cbc link below to hear about the apparent beef between K'naan and K-os.
Also BE SURE to check out the music video for Soobax and documentary that K'naan shot, on location, in neighboring Kenya and within the Somalian enclave of in the Kenyan city of Kiberia aswell as the intro to Salim Mohammed, one of the locals they worked with.
Soobax video
4Real Kenya documentary clip
Salim intro
Interestingly enough, the ghettos of Kiberia (I believe) is also featured in the current movie, the Constant Gardner:
www.theconstantgardener.com
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/constant_gardener/about.php
The 4 Real documentary series is a project of Direct Current Media which was co-founded by Sol Guy, one of the people responsible for bringing up the Rascalz and K-os: K'Naan official site
Other articles:
from Georgia Straight
from CBC
K'naan is performing at the 604 Hip Hop Expo finale on Sunday, Sep. 18 at the Commodore with Lyrics Born headlining.
Posted by: BOON![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.schemamag.ca/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 16, 2005 10:30 PM
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