K’naan (meaning traveller) was born on the dusty streets of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia in the South Horn of Africa. He grew up doing what many kids do - listening to rap and shooting out verses from Nas and Rekeem songs that his father sent him from New York. Things changed when President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords, and K’naan’s friendly neighborhood rapidly became a battlefield of chaos.
At the age of 11, K’naan was already subject to fighting for survival. One strong memory he has is of him and three friends being chased by armed gunmen.
Sadly, his friends were killed whilst he dodged the bullets and escaped. K’naan’ said of this time, “You were certain you were going to die, 'cause everyone else was. I imagined I would not be fortunate enough to live, let alone escape Somalia.”
Fortunately he did. The civil war deepened and his mother appealed for a visa from the US embassy to flee to America. Luckily, they were able to board the last commercial flight before warlords took over the airport. K’naan arrived in Harlem, New York, to stay with family at the age of 13, carrying a strong aspiration to rap. They later moved to Ontario, Canada- which now has a thriving Somali community. With his lyrical gift and English improving his rapping progressed.
K’naan befriended a Canadian promoter, Sol Guy, now his manger, who helped him perform at a refugee event in Geneva (1999). He used the opportunity to speak the truth and as he said “call out to the UN for its failed relief mission in Somalia.” His words impressed Senegalese Singer, Youssou N’Dour so much he invited K’naan to feature on his 2001album, Building bridges. The rest is hard work and history and as K’naan puts it, “an obsession with honesty”.
It’s time to hand you over to the man himself…
Hi K’naan, thanks for doing any interview with me for Cube.
No problem. I wanted to do it, it was just finding the right moment.
What kind of message do you want to send through your songs?
I think that the first thing you want to do with art is to make good art so my interest, first and foremost is to make good songs, with good melodies and good words and then other things follow. Those things are normally subconscious, they are not things that I’m trying to get across, but they are things that happen, I suppose because of where the music comes from.
The track ‘Kicked Pushed’ is about a real incident, being Somali, have you met any racism or situations where you have been treated unfairly?
All the time. This is what comes from being away from home, and also from having to deal with the historical complexities of what you are supposed to be....all the stereotypes you fit into.
Which artists inspire you these days with their music and why?
I listen to a lot of older music which still inspires me. Like Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. There’s some good new music being made like Mos Def. I’m interested in people who have a perspective; something to add to my life and my personality, if it’s not doing that, then I’m not really interested.
What was it like working with Damien Marley and how did that come about?
Well Damien and I are really close friends now, but when we met it was on a tour. He heard about my music and me before, and of course I was a fan of his music. When we met we just kind of instantly became friends, we thought our missions are very aligned and very similar and we just decided we’d make some good music and when the time came, we did. |
Knowing at first hand what real violence is like, what do you think about the image of guns and violence that’s glorified in Hip- Hop and Hollywood?
Well, it’s just a different culture, y’know. When you come from where we come from, it seems a little silly to watch it happen in the way that it does in Hip- Hop music, or just generally in popular culture. But if you look at it from a perspective that it’s simply and solely used for entertainment then you can be a little easier on them.
The music industry is hard to get into, how did you get where you are today?
By just being myself. Being honest about who I am and trying to make good art. There wasn’t anyone making the music I was making or talking about the issues that I was talking about before me. I was just not interested in being accepted or fitting in.
There were other musicians who embraced me before anyone else. Are there any UK artists that you like, and what do you think of UK music?
Of course I like a lot of music that comes out of the UK. Everything from Roots Manoeuvre to Snow Patrol. The interesting thing about the UK scene is that it’s either really really good or really really bad, which can be healthy in music.
What advice would you give to young rappers who want to do something with their talents?
What you have to do is continually compare yourself with the best of them, whatever you think is the best, and you have to think ‘Am I as good as them?’ Honestly, if you start there, you can’t fail. But if you compare yourself with your homeboys and say ‘Well I’m better than the two guys that are down in my building, that’s not going to get you far because you’re competing with the world and not your surroundings, so y’know, always think of a global context. Be honest about it, and if you succeed in saying ‘yes I am’, then you have a shot at whatever it is you’re doing.
Can you explain to young people who might not know that much about Somalia, what’s going on there?
What I suppose they should know is that Somalia has been without a central government for about 17 years. Just imagine not having any civil service, no politicians, no police system, no courts and no accountability. And then there was a period of stability which happened just a little while ago, and then another problem emerged when it was invaded. Now the majority is controlled by a foreign power and there are a lot of people who are unhappy with it, but there are people who support it. None the less, an occupation is an occupation.
What was the state of Mogadishu when you left?
Just as I was leaving, the civil war that ousted the government was happening. Even though the government was a dictatorship there was still some sort of order. Before that, some of my experiences were genuinely beautiful. Anyone who knows Mogadishu knows that it’s a place by the water with the longest shore line in Africa, just really gorgeous. The people are poetic, peaceful and beautiful, but during this time of struggle, and as I was leaving, we were dealing with quite a bit.
Why did intellectuals have to leave Somalia?
Well that’s what happens when a place is kind of falling apart. You have to take the nucleus of things out, the thing that keeps the society together. It can be the spiritual leaders, it can be the intellectuals, it can be the poets and so on. When they go, what happens is the society is left with a load of people who aren’t leaders, and the only leaders who are left in these scenarios are people who are interested in destruction.
What are your thoughts on the South and the North of Somalia being divided?
It was colonial occupation that initially started what is called Somali land and separated it. So I don’t think that people, ideologically, taking on the flag of colonialist past is a good thing. But what I do agree with and support about Somali land is that here is a place in the North of Somalia which has peace and is able to sustain peace and have people under one scenario that is different from the South. I support them in that. I just don’t support it when it comes from ideology as though it’s in the depths of the heart or something. |
