Born in Somalia during a civil war and
being raised in a real battlefield has given K’naan an interesting
take on things. Meaning that his words are more believable
then some of the other performers in the hip-hop field.
Having first been a poet before venturing into the world
of music and also speaking in front of the United Nations
helps to shape his lyrics into cries for world peace and
respect. His style is fun and is often compared to Eminem
and Bob Marley which I find to be accurate.
With his current release and third overall,
he stands poised to breakout out of the underground and
bring his music to a much larger audience. He is not a sellout
though, he is just doing what comes natural and the world
is now ready to hear it.
Among the stand out tracks is the hopeful
“Dreamer” which encourages people to have fun and chase
your dreams despite the problems in your life. Probably
one of the more annoying songs is “Bang, Bang” with its
smooth, upbeat style and radio friendly chorus provided
by Adam Levine of Maroon 5 fame. The song is great, but
I know I will probably have to hear it thousands of times
this summer thus sucking the joy out of it.
In yet another collaboration K’naan and
Kirk Hammit rock out on the song “If Rap Gets Jealous”.
Here we find Kirk doing his best Slash impersonation and
giving us one of the best guitar solos he’s ever done. I
really like that K’naan lets loose and embraces his “Ghetto
Rock Star”. But now to get more serious there is a song
on here which transcends the genre. “Wavin’ Flag” blends
hip hop, reggae, with a pleasant African beat and with lyrics
only someone like K’naan could deliver properly. This is
a truly great song filled with the hope of a scared thirteen
year old boy who has seen too much death and struggle in
his life. The lyric “When I get older, I will be stronger,
they’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag.” is full
of pain and yet stands robust in the glory of knowing love
will lead you through and tomorrow will be a better day.
The last song I would like to single out is “Fatima” which
is an ode to young love. This is his most poetic song on
the album, gentle and beautiful. With calming horns and
a calming beat it is a wonderful story.
K’naan has an incredible story and is
an incredible artist. Every one of the songs on Troubadour
is great. It is an album which is bigger and better than
those others which try to be great. As an artist if you
are a star you will shine and K’naan Shines brighter than
most. I think the key to K’naan’s appeal and the grandness
of this album lies in a lyric from the song “Take A Minute”
where K’naan sings “Any man who knows a thing, knows he
knows not a damn damn thing at all…I’m just gonna take a
minute and let it breeze”. He is humble and has it all in
the proper perspective. So take a minute and let K’naan
drop his knowledge on you.
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