Each month this site will feature music as heard on the Canadian Countdown. If you missed a show and still want to vote just come here each week and listen to some great Canadian music then e-mail us with your vote!
K`naan
Each month this site will feature music as heard on the Canadian Countdown. If you missed a show and still want to vote just come here each week and listen to some great Canadian music then e-mail us with your vote!
K`naan
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, just as the civil unrest that rocked the country was beginning, K'Naan spent the early years of his life trying to avoid death and listening to the hip-hop records (such as Nas & Rakim) that his father (working as a Taxi driver in New York City), who had left Somalia earlier, sent to him from America. When K'Naan was 13, he, his mother, and his two siblings were able to leave their homeland and join relatives in Harlem, where they stayed briefly before moving to Rexdale, Ontario, where there was a large Somali community. As soon as K'Naan's English started improving he began rapping, and in grade ten he dropped out of school and traveled around North America for two years, performing occasionally.
n 2002 K'Naan met Jarvis Church, part of the Track and Field Productions team that helped to propel Nelly Furtado to fame, a connection that eventually led to a record. In 2005, he performed with DobaCaracol during the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario. His full-length debut album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, was released in 2005. His song "Soobax" (pronounced "So-Bah") is now featured in the best selling video game FIFA Football 2006, made by Electronic Arts. K'naan participated in the Breedlove Odyssey Tour with Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and Jean Grae. He also participated in the "Welcome to Jamrock" tour along with Damian Marley.
The Dusty Foot Philosopher received a 2006 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, and was nominated for the inaugural Polaris Music Prize. He also featured in a song by M1, titled "Till We Get There". K'naan has already recieved a lot of repsponse on our countdown and has made the top five several times...Click on the screen below to watch the viedo for the countdown topper..."Soobax" and then tell us if you feel it's number one material via e-mail or on
*Information from the Wikipedia page for K'naan!
LAST MONTHS MAJOR FEATURE ARTIST - DEATH FROM ABOVE, 1979!