K’naan has grown to be one of my favourite new artists of the moment. This Somali-born but Toronto, Canada-raised rapper impressed me when rhythmically telling us about the hardships of the streets of his native Mogadishu in Somalia and sharing his peace-striving and love-spreading thoughts and personal aspect on life on his debut album The Dusty Foot Philosopher from 2005. He has just recently released his second album Troubadour. I was lucky to get the chance to review this excellent follow-up to the standardizing Philosopher record on CoS. Read the article here! I gave it no less than 4.5 of 5 and I sincerely think it deserves to be as warmly welcomed as M.I.A.’s Kala, another album where worldly influences met clever “Western” pop production, was. I strongly suggest you go check out The Dusty Foot Philosopher and Troubadour, both are brilliant. I hope and believe that 2009 is K’naan’s year, especially since Troubadour has a mix of hip hop, soul, rock and pop that should appeal to a wide audience in catchy and memorable songs to enjoy.
From The Dusty Foot Philosopher:
K’naan - Strugglin (zshare)
K’naan - Strugglin (ysi)
From Troubadour: