K'Naan Waxes Philosophical About Etobicoke

Rapper K'Naan is still shaking his head about his recent success.

"It's surprising to have all this media around me for something that I love to do," he says. But, after listening to his debut album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, it's clear he's worthy of the accolades.

While K'Naan often describes his album as paying homage to his homeland of Somalia, he has nothing but love for the West Toronto community of Rexdale, where he spent his impressionable years.

"There were many influences in that Etobicoke neighbourhood where I spent my early years," he says. "It was amazing. It gave me a lot to be inspired about and I use a lot of that in my music."

The first single off the album, "Soobax" (pronounced soo-bah), has an infectious African-inspired beat paired to politically charged lyrics, which according to K'Naan is what made recording that song so special.

"We found a special moment in the studio," he says. "It's hard to explain the celebration of recording that song. It's rare that you get the chance to celebrate and protest in a song all at once, but 'Soobax' is one of those songs that does both. There's anger and there's celebration at the same time."

Of course, no artist gets where they are on their own. In K'Naan's case, his fresh sound is in large part due to the creative talents of Jarvis Church and Brian West, the Toronto producers who make up Track And Field. For K'Naan, working with Track And Field was a very fulfilling experience that made the album what it is.

"Working with them is always a celebration of music, which is rare," he says. "Usually producers and artists only want to celebrate when a song is a hit, but with them, it's during the creation. That is just tremendous."

One of the interesting things about K'Naan is that he is determined to resist being known as simply another "Canadian" rapper.

"My experiences are so drastically different to other people in Canadian hip-hop. I don't know if what I'm doing is what other Canadian rappers are doing," he says. "I am always waving my own flag."

As long as war and political strife continue to exist in this world, there will always be a time and a place for socially relevant music. Either way, it doesn't matter which flag K'Naan chooses to wave, his music speaks to universal injustices, giving a voice to people who he says, "have an enormous amount of dignity in their struggle."

Here are his upcoming tour dates: 

September 2 Toronto, ON @ York University
September 9 Toronto, ON @ Olympic Island
September 12 Toronto, ON @ Jane Tat's Nite at The Drake
September 14 Toronto, ON @ Canadian Music Cafe at Sassafrazz
September 17 Toronto, ON @ Ear To The Ground
September 18 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
September 19 Vancouver, BC @ University Of British Columbia
September 20 Victoria, BC @ Sugar
September 22 Kelowna, BC @ The Well
September 23 Calgary, AB @ Liberty Lounge
September 24 Edmonton, AB @ The Sidetrack
September 27 Waterloo, ON @ University Of Waterloo
September 27 Waterloo, ON @ Starlite Lounge
September 29 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Plaza
October 7 Hamilton, ON @ Pepperjack's
October 12 Guelph, ON @ University Of Guelph
October 13 Toronto, ON @ Revival or Mod Club, TBA
October 15 Halifax, NS @ Halifax Pop Explosion