Thought Patterns
by Emanuel
In heavy rotation in my headphones for quite a while already now, K’Naan has been bringing me a lot of energy these past few months. This Somali-Canadian artist has a lot of soul and he communicates it very well through his music. I haven’t heard anything this powerful in a long time. Not only does he shine musically but his lyrics actually have a meaningful presence as well. Pictured above at the 2009 United Nations General Assembly Millennium Development Goals Awards, his African experience and political awareness permeate everything he does, be it his music or his interviews. I played his latest album for a friend not too long ago and it was only after his comment that I realized that this wasn’t a ‘straight-up hip hop’ record but that K’Naan actually sang quite a bit on it. The music is so powerful I had not noticed, to me it simply was great music!
Growing up in Somalia until his teens, K’Naan (his real name, which means the traveler) had the chance to leave right before the hell of war broke loose (remember Black Hawk Down?). Nonetheless, he was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and only his music writing helped him emerged from what must have been a very dark place. He talks about it during a great Democracy Now interview, which is available on-line.
The previous album is really amazing as well, although not as mature musically, and one bit in it that has really stuck with me is
Until the lion learns to speak
The tales of hunting will be weak
My poetry hails within the streets
My poetry fails to be discrete
K’Naan recorded his latest album in Bob Marley’s house in Jamaica and “Wavin’ Flag” captures an international feeling reminiscent of the Legend himself. Check out another of his tracks off of his latest album, ‘Dreamer’. This is the first song my recently born daughter Miro had the pleasure of hearing while we were still in our delivery room at BC Women’s:
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