Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in the district of Wardhiigleey (the "River of Blood") His aunt, Magool, was one of East Africa's most famous singers. K'naan's father, Abdi, left the country, along with many other intellectuals to settle in New York and work as a cab driver. He mailed money home to his family—and for K'naan, hip hop albums by artists like Nas and Rakim.Despite speaking no English, the young K'naan taught himself hip hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically.As the civil war continued and the situation in Somalia continued to deteriorate, K'naan's mother, Marian Mohamed, petitioned the US embassy for an exit visa. In 1991, on the last day the US embassy remained open as the government of Mohamed Siad Barre was collapsed, their visa was approved, and they boarded the last commercial flight out of the country.They joined relatives in Harlem, New York City, before moving to Rexdale Ontorio , where there was a large Somali Canadian community,and his family still lives. In his new country, K'naan began learning English—and also began to start rapping. He dropped out of school in grade ten to travel for a time, rapping at open mic events, and eventually returned to Toronto,Ontario.K'naan become a friend and associate of Canadian promoter Sol Guy, who helped him to get a gig speaking before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999 where he performed a spoken word piece criticizing the UN for their failed aid mission to Somalia One of the audience members, Senegalese singerYoussou 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.This project lead to his work at other UN events, as well as the Montreal Jazz Festival. It also helped him meet Canadian producer Jarvis Church and his Track & Field team in 2002, who produced his debut album The Dusty Foot Philosopher, which was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. In 2006, it won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, and was nominated for the inaugural Polaris Music Prize . It also won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the newcomer category for 2007.The Dusty Foot Philosopher will be re-released and re-packaged as a "Deluxe Edition" featuring new mixes and a bonus DVD in the United States (and various internationial territories) by the emerging media company and record label iM (Interdependent Media, Inc.) in 2008.
posted by SGG at Monday, January 28, 2008
