Quick Before it Melts

Thursday 21 May 2009

Jury Duty:
Exhibit A: K’naan Troubadour

Last Thursday, I mentioned my invitation to be part of the 2009 Polaris Music Prize jury, so I thought that it may be useful to me–and interesting for you–to have a weekly post about some of the music I’m considering for my top five list, which I have to submit to Polaris HQ by June 8.  Last wee I mentioned Hamilton’s The Rest and their excellent album Everyone All At Once.  This week, we’re going about as far from Hamilton and The Rest’s post-pop lushness, into uncharted territory for me.

You’d have to be living under a rock or in Guantanamo Bay to have missed all the hype surrounding the release of Troubadour, the sophomore album from K’naan.  The Somali-born, Canadian-living rapper/poet/musician has amassed an impressive list of guest-stars for the album, including Metallica”s Kirk Hammett, Damian Marley, and Mos Def.  Even so, the spotlight here is clearly focused on the K’naan’s reggae-inspired worldbeat rapping, and his eloquent lyrical prowess.  His music truly is borne from the traditions of his Somali roots and Canadian experiences and therefore exists as true global music, not tethered to any one particular place.  Sometimes it feels like K’naan’s casting his net too wide, trying to cover too much ground at once, but isn’t that like we Canadians to criticize ambition and risk-taking?  You cannot fault him for being a dreamer and visionary, or for rhyming “Kandahar” with “kinda hard” (see “The Dreamer”).

While Troubadour isn’t be the kind of album that I’d gravitate to naturally, I feel that ignoring it would have been a mistake and an oversight on my part.  I don’t know whether it will make my final 5 list (or whether I’ll even be allowed to share that list with you once it’s submitted), but it definitely deserves our attention and respect.

MP3: K’naan “Wavin’ Flag”
Myspace: K’naan
Buy: K’naan Troubadour

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by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.