Tuesday, September 19, 2006

'The Dusty Foot Philosopher' by K'Naan

19 September 2006

I'm really enjoying 'The Dusty Foot Philosopher' - the debut CD by Somali/Canadian rapper K'Naan. Andy Kershaw starting championing him some months ago on his Radio 3 show and I saw part of K'Naan's set at WOMAD in July but I wasn't sure it was my kind of thing. Nevertheless I thought I would give the album a go and it's really hooked me now. As a young boy K'Naan escaped war-torn Somalia on the last commercial flight out of Mogadishu in 1991 and eventually settled in Canada. Now he is rapping in English with a Canadian accent (which reminds me of another Canadian rapper, Spek) about his childhood and the plight of his homeland. 'The Dusty Foot Philosopher' is a refreshing mix of styles and approaches but still feels like a single rounded work. There's a little swearing here and there but this is intelligent, revealing, funny and very catchy rap. "Why are his feet so dusty?!"

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