Tag Archives: 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 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

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

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

I am one of those people that's never been really cynical about life, you know. 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'm writing from a place of – a center of authenticity, somewhere that only I know how to write from. K'naan

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