-
K’naan - Nothing to Lose (feat. Nas)
This song is dope (well, the verses at least) and K’naan is no doubt one of my favorite artists, I think one of the best lyricists out there, but all the stuff on that More Beautiful Than Silence EP is way over-produced, especially the hooks. There’s no need for that from the guy who’s raw enough to make a beat using the sound of water. It’s as if the label told him he needs to increase his appeal to the rich liberals who think Bono is a revolutionary. These choruses are made for off-key singing by a crowd of mainstream democrats.
-
K'Naan Discusses Nas' Comments About Africa And Explains Why Other Rappers Backgrounds "Can't Hold A Candle" To His | HipHop DX
Yeah, man. I mean, I got a history that is a lot more – to put it mildly – directly impacted [by violence] than a lot of rappers. A lot of rappers that talk all that street talk can’t really hold a candle to the kind of experiences I’m talking about. And so, why then should I have been all these years kind of in the back, just watching it all unfold? And nobody really gives the kind of credit and due something like that deserves.
-
Name: Nothing To Lose (feat. Nas)
Artist: K'naan
Album: More Beautiful Than Silence
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
K’naan - Nothing to Lose (feat. Nas)
No, I don’t know pilots / N—-a, I know pirates
two of my favorite artists.
-
K'naan - Returning to Somalia After 20 Years - NYTimes.com
I hoped that my presence would let me shine a light into this darkness. Maybe spare even one life, a life equal to mine, from indifferently wasting away. But I am no statesman, nor a soldier. Just a man made fortunate by the power of the spotlight. And to save someone’s life I am willing to spend some of that capricious currency called celebrity.
-
High ResolutionNice, I’m glad you decided to check it out. As anyone who’s been following me can see, I think K’naan’s one of the best in the game.
-
Name: 15 Minutes Away[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Artist: K'naan
Album: Troubadour
K’naan - “15 Minutes Away”
One of the times I saw K’naan, he prefaced the song he was about to play by saying that his brother told him it was the most ghetto song he’d ever heard. I figured he was about to play “What’s Hardcore” or “T.I.A.”, songs where he challenges fake gangsters’ definitions of hard.
Instead he played this song, and I think it’s cool that he was able to make a song about “the ghetto” without resorting to drugs and guns, not that I have any problem with artists doing that. It feels realer, because I’m sure a ton more people can relate to the idea of this song than to being a drug kingpin.
I always remember that little story behind it when I hear it, and—even though my scenario wasn’t as desperate as those depicted in the song—always got it in my head when I’d be almost out of money in Rio, waiting on that Western Union.
-
"A lot of mainstream n—-as is yappin’ about yappin’ / A lot of underground n—-as is rappin’ about rappin’"
-K’naan
I was thinking about this line the other day because I quoted it (sans n-words) to my friend after he pointed out how it was funny that underground cats talk about Hip-Hop more than anything else.
-
Name: Belly Full (Messengers Remix) (feat. Kardinal Offishall, Steele, & Bajah)
Artist: J.Period & K'naan
Album: The Messengers (Episode 2: Bob Marley)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
“Belly Full (Messengers Remix)” - K’naan & J.Period (feat. Kardinal Offishall, Steele, & Bajah)
Spit Viagra so Hip-Hop can get hard again
-
"There is an intrinsic difference between entertainers & artists. Artists endure the pain of the world, entertainers dance around it."
- K’NAAN (via justblame) -
Nas & Junior Gong interview w/ Hardknock.tv
They talk about Nneka, and how K’naan influenced the whole project. Like Mos said, “Pan-Africa’s a real movement.”
It’s awesome to hear K’naan on the same songs with Nas. In my biased opinion, he’s a top 5 MC in a few years.
Nas also talks about his line on “I Do It for Hip-Hop” (Luda) where he says “They say I’m so low-key, I’m socially awkward.” That trait is one of the reasons Nas is my favorite artist of all-time. While dudes like Jay rap to be world-famous stars and use it as a jump-off for other business ventures, Nas truly does it for Hip-Hop.
This Raw Cold Life
This raw cold life is a beautiful thing. —Mos Def
My name is Shaun and I make paintings, drawings, and poems. My art is a reaction (one of many) to the countless and varied inspirations I encounter. This is an informal collection of such things, too scattered and far-reaching to be condensed into a single label.
See my art: shaungribouski.com
