Quotes by K'naan

About K'naan:

Keinan Abdi Warsame is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. He rose to prominence with the success of his single "Wavin' Flag", which was chosen as Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Besides hip-hop, K'naan's sound is influenced by elements of Somali music, Ethio-jazz and world music. He is also involved in various philanthropic initiatives.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I have moments of darkness, of anger, and moments of rage. They do creep up at the most inopportune times. Not to recognize that in my music would give people a sense of sainthood that I don't necessarily have or even want to have.

K'naan

My question about my art and my music has always been, 'Am I good, or am I good because?' I'm not the artist who wants to have the 'because' attached.

K'naan

Art isn't held with the same high regard as it is after success. In any country, in any language, you're a loser if you're making music until you prove otherwise.

K'naan

The only way I see the world now is through coming out of and growing up and living in Somalia. In the time of war, everyone was basically trying to live and manage the best they could. But you also had another period which was not a hard time at all...

K'naan

I'm an optimist about other people. I'm not an optimist about myself.

K'naan

Somalis really are very musically sophisticated, and they're about their own thing.

K'naan

From the stage, I can reach a large audience, and you learn from being on stage how much a song reaches, what extent of the crowd a song can reach. I write in a way that can reach most of the audience, but I also wanted to have truly intimate moments...

K'naan

The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the effect that it can have; nobody is prepared for that.

K'naan

The people of Somalia just do not have a voice. They are to me the most forgotten people in the world.

K'naan

I'm writing from a place of - a center of authenticity, somewhere that only I know how to write from.

K'naan

To reach your goal authentically is probably, in the end, going to mean much more to you than having reached it in a false way.

K'naan

You have to let the world speak to you and then you speak, you know, so I'm in that moment now where I'm finding the world's voice.

K'naan

I enjoy mediation. I think the artist's position is often to mend the things we feel are broken. Whether that's between two cultures or two thoughts. We're always trying to reach, trying to expand something.

K'naan

It's not really that I'm interested in filmmaking. I'm interested in the instrument of it, you know.

K'naan

It was not my dream to be an artist. How could it have been? I thought, artist, much like a leader, was something you either were or weren't. Never something you set out to be.

K'naan

Hip-hop in Africa has been very often a duplication of an American experience, but in a context that's totally alien to it.

K'naan

I faced quite a few challenging times, and in front of those, I was more positive than some people not facing those conditions. I'm actually of the belief now that it is that struggle that offers you that open-hearted hope.

K'naan

I'm not about trying to get and get and get. I feel good when I get, but I kind of feel better when I give.

K'naan

I am one of those people that's never been really cynical about life, you know.

K'naan

You want to reach people, but you also want to reach them in the most authentic way. You now have a mass market and an audience that's listening, but they're in love with a song that means absolutely nothing to you.

K'naan

Author Bio

  • NameK'naan
  • DescriptionSomali-Canadian musician
  • BornFebruary 1, 1978
  • CountryCanada; Somalia
  • ProfessionPoet; Writer; Singer; Musician