K'naan Album: “Troubadour”

The first song I heard (Bang Bang fet. Adam Levine) blew me away. It made me want to hear more...I listened to the record on Amazon's listening party and it was easily the freshest music I've heard so far this year (along with Lily Allen's It's Not Me It's You) especially in hip-hop.

There's really not a bad or filler track on here, but my favorite songs are Bang Bang/If Rap Gets Jealous/Wavin' Flag/Take a Minute/ People Like Me. I think he sounds like Wyclef meets Eminem...in the best possible way. Very positive approach towards a life that throws too many curveballs.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes popular music!

I was totally taken away by this album. I was expecting something a little different than his other album release

, but he has accomplished a great album on his second round.

There isn't any junk on this album. There is a certain positive embrace over a life so cruel. He conveys his message/stories in his rhymes and the music in itself is great.

Certainly, this is not a thuggish album, it conveys stories of atrosities in his native Somalia. But none the less, it is a worth while listen.

5 Stars!

I heard K'Naan do a live set on Sound Opinions, so I got this cd for the songs he did there: "Take a Minute", "America", and "Wavin' Flag". Though I like that live version of all three songs better (especially America), what blew me away about the album is that it is so good from top to bottom. Most albums these days only have one good single; this album is the other way around--only one or two songs is not great. I'm so impressed.

Great lyrics, great beats, great flow--love it.

K'naan has talent. He is the Mozart of Somalia. His brilliance lies in his ability to work in so many musical idioms. Like Mozart, all he needs do is hear a kind of music and he will make it his. What's more, he is both musical and lyrical.

T.I.A (This Is Africa) displays his humor. His call-and-response goes from a Hip-Hop banality to a booming response in the style of massed African warriors. Perfect. Then the cut goes on to morph what is left of Hip-Hop to traditional folk melody and beat.

The second cut. ABC, switches gears into Arabic conventions. He has an amazing ability to encounter and to integrate.

When you get to Dreamer he shows how he has the American idioms down cold. By this time I noticed how nice is his booklet to show his lyrics to a world audience.

Next is "I am Prepared", where he winks at the tired old state of rap and hip-hop in America. Then his tour-de-force goes to old time group harmony before chiding rap.

"If Rap Gets Jealous" is a threat of heavy rock. You will hear 60's chord progressions. He does a bit of dub and even reaches back to '50s motifs.

The political lyrics are well done. He does point out that, in the case of Iraq, "We've been doing this thing since before Jesus of Nasareth.

He avoids the idiotic sub-woofer bloat because it would kill his tenor and treble work, and would muddy his striking writing.

Now that he has demonstrated his breadth, we look forward to his going deep in his shed.

Unlike others who made comments about Amazon censoring lyrics, I appreciate the 'CLEAN' version of this album because my 5 year old LOVES 'Wavin' Flag' and I'm sure he will listen to the other songs and dance to them w/out knowing what the words truly mean, so I rather have him listen w/out all the F and N words for now. THANK YOU for the clean version!