Borderland

K’naan is from Mogadishu, Somalia. His family moved to New York in 1991 to escape the Somali civil war, and then later, to Toronto, Ontario. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia’s most famous singers. His grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet.

K’naan means “traveller” in the Somali language. I heard his song, Wavin’ Flag, today on Democracy Now, and I wanted to learn more about him. He did an interview with Amy Goodman back in August, in which he talked about his music and his country.

He performed some of his songs in Democracy Now’s Firehouse Studio, which I’ve embedded here, just because.