The Somali Rapper, Singer, and Activist Raises Questions About Do-Gooders Like Invisible Children
The most viral video in history is a 30-minute documentary called “Stop Kony.” The horrific clip about an African warlord with an army of child soldiers and underage prostitutes was viewed over 100 million times in a week, generating millions of dollars in donations to the organization Invisible Children. Soon thereafter Invisible Children’s founder, Jason Russell, went a little crazy in Cali—stripping butt naked and galavanting through the streets of San Diego. And that was before a video emerged of one of his colleagues swigging vodka and “joking” about pocketing 90% of the donations. Suffice it to say that there are serious questions to be raised about do-gooders trying to “save Africa.” To get some perspective, we caught up with K’Naan, whose song “Coming To America,” off his latest EP More Beautiful Than Silence, tells the story of his upbringing in Somalia. “I’ve gotten hundreds of messages about the ‘stop Kony’ thing,” he said. “[They’re like] ‘Would you say something about the ‘Stop Kony.’ Stop Kony!’” Though K’Naan takes the well-being of African people very seriously, he refused to get caught up in the #StopKony hype. Here’s why… (more…)
Tag: K’Naan
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K’Naan Speaks On #StopKony Mania
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WATCH THIS: K’Naan “T.I.A.” (This Is Africa)
Remember the movie Black Hawk Down? How ill was that? The neighborhood where those choppers crashed was named the “worst place on earth” by the UN, but locals call it Wardhiigleey or “river of blood.” K’Naan Warsame grew up there, and he loved his neighborhood until war broke out in the early 1990s. After seeing friends shot dead and accidentally blowing up his school with a hand grenade, he had to leave his hometown of Mogadishu. His latest single from the album Troubadour is about “taking rappers on a field trip.” The beat is very bashment (peep the tweaked-out Wailers sample) but the lyrics are straight outta Somalia. Get accustomed.
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K’Naan To The World
Marley connoisseurs have been up on K’Naan for years now, but now that the poet/emcee/self-proclaimed “visual stenographer” is finally getting his shine, the rest of the world is starting to catch up. (more…)
