ABC’s - K’naan (feat. Chubb Rock)
November 11, 2008 | Author: Rhydian H.M.
“ABC” is brought to us by Somalian-born, Canadian-raised rapper (and poet) K’naan and features Chubb Rock. “ABC” is the first single of his sophomore album “Troubadour”, which follows his debut album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher” (2005) and is due to be released in January 2009.
K’naan was born into war-torn Somalia, where he learned to rap in English from CDs his father would send him while living in New York. Later K’naan also moved to New York and then later to Ontario, Canada, where he continued to learn English. Today the contrasts of western life have flourished into the blended artist he is today.
K’naan, who often rapped or story told about the realities of refugee life in Somalia on “The Dusty Foot Philosopher”, continues to send out his thought provoking messages in “ABC”. His lyrics tend to be brave and powerful, and in ABC, he again deals with matters head on, mainly on the subject of defective education as he raps “They only teach us the things guns do” and “They don’t teach us the ABCs”.
K’naan illustrates the lack of amenities with “we play on the hard concrete” and lack of hope “all we got is life on the streets” and a combination of both, rhyming “we ain’t got no where we could run to”.
K’naan’s lyrics are not only meaningful and intelligent, nor are should be cast as plain rhetoric; rather, they more than live up to the rap genre, as his rhymes and tempo flow superbly with a cool, rhythmical back beat to combine for a very enjoyable single.
“ABC” was released on iTunes on November 4 and it is highly recommended (listen to it here).
This song is a BLAZER with the old school Chubb Rock sample. K’naan’s delivery is sick - he’s a beast, if you ask me. Lyrical content is ridiculous. It’s nice to hear about something other than bling, booty and wanna-be gangsterism. I love this guy! Saw him live last night, and he blew the stage down!!
That’s awesome you saw him in concert Jenny. I have to admit that he’s been one of my new favorite artists to listen to, especially with his songs “ABCs” and “Dreamer”. Definitely a change, like you mentioned, and a good one at that.
K’naan is what Hip Hop should be! he is truely amazing artist and a great person. Anyone would be pleased with his life performances! if you ever get a chance to see him don’t spare it, he would definitely not diappoint you. I still listen to his first Album, the critically acclaimed “The Dusty Foot Philosopher” (in my opinion one of the best Hip Hop album ever)…Almost all the songs in first album are my fave: Voices in My head, My mother’s pearl, My old Home, Until the lions learns to speak, Smile, If rap get jealous, i was stabbed By a satan, and In the beggining…I CAN’T WAIT “TROUBADOUR” TO COME OUT…peace and blessings