K'NAAN
K'NAAN will be performing at Elements on Monday October 4, 2010
K'NAAN spent the early years of his life trying to avoid death and listening to the hip-hop records sent to him from America by his father, who had left Somalia earlier. When K'NAAN (whose name means "traveler" in Somali) was 13, he, his mother, and his two siblings were able to leave their homeland and join relatives in Harlem, where they stayed briefly before moving to Rexdale, Ontario, where there was a large Somali community.
Armed only with the little English he'd gleaned from a copy of Eric B & Rakim's “Paid in Full” K’NAAN began rapping, and in tenth grade he dropped out of school and traveled around North America for two years, performing occasionally. Through his friendship with Sol Guy, part of promotion team Direct Current Media, K'NAAN was able to perform at the United Nations' 50th anniversary concert in 1999, held in Geneva, where he used his platform to publicly criticize the United Nations' handling of the Somali crisis in the 1990s. One of the audience members, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album Building Bridges, a project through which K'NAAN was able to tour the world. In 2002, he met Jarvis Church, part of the Track and Field Productions team that helped propel Nelly Furtado to fame, a connection that eventually led to a record.
The Dusty Foot Philosopher came out in Canada in 2005, and was followed with tour spots with Mos Def and Talib Kweli, as well as a performance at Live 8. In 2007 the live album On the Road appeared and then, two years later, the album Troubadour became K'NAAN's first for the major label A&M. Marisa Brown, Rovi.
“I’m not interested in being mediocre,” declares the rapper. “If there’s not a necessity to what I’m doing, I just wouldn’t do it. If I don’t have something to add to the conversation, I’m just not gonna talk.” Luckily for us, he has plenty to say. Utilizing everything from folk guitar to the actual Hammond B3 used on Bob Marley’s Exodus, the emcee deftfully finds a balance between earnest tales of growing up and clever, braggadocio rhymes straight out of Big Daddy Kane’s rhymebook. It’s this mix, both musical and lyrical, that earned his 2006 debut album The Dusty Foot Philosopher a Juno award for Rap Recording of the Year, a BBC Radio 3 Award, and nomination for the inaugural Polaris Music Prize, Canada’s equivalent to the Shortlist Music Prize.
K’NAAN’s 2009 release, Troubadour, represents the sum of his experiences and much more. Having spent the better part of the last two years traveling the world, taking his message directly to the people, soaking in everything from Bob Dylan to Fela Kuti to and Mos Def, Troubadour is the sonic document of an artist who has a lot to share, but clearly has a lot more in the coming years. For anyone who’s said that hip-hop has nothing left to say, Troubadour proves that it all depends on where you look.
Catch K'NAAN hiting the stage at Elements on Monday October 4, 2010
| Name: | K'NAAN |
| Official Website: | www.knaanmusic.ning.com |
| Date(s): | Monday October 4, 2010 |
| Venue(s): | Elements - 90 King St. West |
| Misc.: | All Ages/Licensed Show |
| Notes: | Doors@8:00pm |