My birthday is coming up (it’s Saturday, February 27 and thanks so much for the card, by the by) and you can imagine my surprise when my Special Lady, Michelle, told me we were going to see K’Naan at the Orpheum Theatre. Needless to say, I was pretty darn excited.
Brief tangent: if you haven’t taken in a show or cultural event at the Orpheum, please do it soon. The place is as spectacular as it is intimate.
I will venture a guess and assume that 72% of visitors to this online news magazine know about K’Naan. Whether you do or not, the 10 minute video below acts as a pretty darn amazing introduction to one of the world’s most important artists. Enjoy!
Full disclosure. K’Naan is a sell out. Or so a handful of mangey protestors argued as thousands of fans excitedly lined up to see a young man who defines himself as “made in Somalia and raised in Toronto.” Recently, K’Naan signed a lucrative contract with corporate up-and-comer, Coca Cola – some folks argue this goes against his truly humbling, authentic, “man of the people” image. I will admit, combining a Coca Cola sponsorship with a stopover at the Olympics (the Cultural Olympiad is sponsored by Bell) amid chatter that artists are being “muzzled” by sponsors complicated my shining opinion of K’Naan.
When the protestors approached Michelle, though, things weren’t so complicated. Her argument went like this: Look. I’m not saying that you don’t have a point. But really, at the end of the day, K’Naan’s message is positive, empowering and inspiring. Through his songs he tells a story of forgiveness, respect, tolerance, and hope. Why wouldn’t we want this message to spread through any means possible, reaching individuals it otherwise would not have? Coke is powerful – take the example of GreenPeace, who tried for 15 years to have greener refridgeration technology approved in Canada. Coca Cola, in an attempt to be more environmentally sustainable, was able to get their climate-friendly vending machines and coolers approved for use in Canada in just one year, in time for the 2010 Olympics – opening the door for approval of green refridgerators and coolers. Instead of working against the man, it is often so much more effective to work with the man to effect change.
Michelle and I, being superawesome nerds, developed an evaluation rubric for the concert based on four categories – each category is worth five points. Here we go:
Edutainment
A good amount (like, 30) of parents brought their kids to the concert. In the lineup – amidst the inarticulate, yet passionate, protestors – I struck up a conversation with a little one (and her dad, because I’m not creepy) about the concert ahead. She said she was excited because her class watched a documentary about what K’Naan is doing in East Africa to raise awareness about women’s rights, child labour/poverty and the overall plight of people who live in “the hardest place on Earth.” He also told powerful stories and shook his ass like a maniac. Recent findings show kids love stuff like that.
Final Score: 5/5.
Dancibility
Rap concerts suck. There. I said it. Unless an artist has Timbaland mixin his pop-fresh beats live on stage, well, it all just sounds like muffled talking to the thump-thump of the base. And people can’t really dance to such sounds. Especially white people. And, let’s be honest about the crowd, this was/is Vancouver. But this was not a rap concert. It was a delightful hybird of rock/hip-hop/spoken word/stand up comedy with interludes of musical poetry. Whether he was whispering quietly to the audience or “lighting this mutherf*ckin’ joint” everybody could dance…to the best of their ability.
Final Score: 4/5
Creativity
Still moved by K’Naan’s amazing, humbling ability to wear his heart on his sleeve, this concert truly ran the gamut of sensation: from the hilarious and ridiculous to the tragically sad. Few people on this planet can honestly live up to the title of “Rapper, Poet, Philosopher, Storyteller, and Rock Star” – if he were the kind of guy to have business cards, K’Naan would have the best ones ever.
Final Score: 6/5
Authenticity
Here’s the deal. Sell-out or not, the part of the concert when K’Naan told the feeble VANOC official that he’s “not finished playing” – whether this came about because of his “mood” or his penchent for counterculture or his subscribing to African Time, this part of the show was delightfully authentic. I was not without my reservations, as K’Naan needlessly name-dropped Bob Marley and, to all the fans out there, here’s a piece of advice: when someone is singing/talking about their dead childhood girlfriend who left this world in the most terrible of circumstances, well, it’s not supercool to cheer about it. Idiots. Finally, Coke-fueled or not, seeing that many people sing to Wavin Flag was the most authentic thing I’ve seen during these Olympics. Building community through music? Check! Well done, K’Naan.
Final Score: 5/5
With a total score of 20/20 it’s pretty clear that K’Naan rocked the Orpheum. More importantly, though, in a world where most of us have lost faith in business – just ask Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management – perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to have K’Naan, a poetic champion of the people, as a collaborator with the biggest business on Earth. After all, change takes a community…
- Written by The Bornks!
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I thought it was difficult to dance at the Orpheum? At least, that’s my experience in many seated theatres. Difficult to give a 4/5 for danceability in that environment, I would have thought.
“well, it’s not supercool to cheer about it. Idiots.”
I suppose some of us are not as superior as you and did not know the lyrics. An excellent review despite this silly comment.
K’Naan: “I only refer to her once on the first album, in the song Smile, where I say ‘SHOT was my girlfriend’.”
Ridiculous People in the Crowd who weren’t Listening: “Wooooohoooooo! Yeah! Woooooooo!”
People cheering such a tragic event had nothing to do with superior knowledge of lyrics, my friend. It had to do with listening. That’s what I meant by “idiots” – it was written crassly and hyperbolically on purpose. Apologies if you were offended, as it wasn’t my intention.
As for singing and cheering during Fatima, well, it seems that K’Naan invited others to share this very personal moment of his – while my Special Lady didn’t think any of the cheering was appropriate, I think it was a choice K’Naan made.
In conclusion, not thinking that cheering death is a cool thing or acceptable isn’t really a “silly comment.” When people are blessed with an opportunity to experience an artist like K’Naan, we should listen to what he has to say.
Nice post John. Do you have more context concerning his “selling out”? Is this just to do with the World Cup tour or is it something more? The sad truth is more and more artists are “selling out” in a day and age when many of us download music for free. The only thing that really upsets me is that the coke world cup remix sucks when compared with the album version.
Jim
John,
I was offended because I was referred to as an idiot because I cheered with everyone else – mainly because I did not know the words. All I could hear was “the young man who took you away.” This could mean anything from murder to eloping or moving to another place. Regardless, I know you didn’t mean to offend, but I think you may have mistaken why at least some of us cheered. Of course I would not have cheered if I would have understood the meaning. By the way, my son and I have listened to the song at least five times since the concert.
I should not have used the term superior knowledge.
Cheers,
Ted
John,
Happy Birthday.
K’Naan is the best.
You are the best.
Ted.
Amazing commentary. The Daily Gumboot community is lucky to have you as a collaborator! I’ve listened to the song a lot since the concert, too – and I’ve thought about what you said. K’Naan ends “Fatima” with the line “now I just wanna make it clear, I don’t want you to shed a tear, ’cause this here…it’s a celebration; we’re not mournin’, we’re celebrating.” So, my friend, I think you were right to cheer and celebrate.
Well played, sir. I hope we continue the conversation!
- John
I thought the concert was fun and funny mainly because of the burly men in Canada Jersey’s that looked like they just stepped out of a hockey match who knew all the words to k’naan’s songs. The canada flags and paraphernalia was too much for me.
too sweet , too honest, heartbreakingly beautiful
~ thank you
Wish I could have seen it. Sounds like a great concert!
Kurt
I really need to know why Fatima was “taken away” ? Was it death by chance or was she spirited away by the “young man” (hired to do so) given she was Muslim and seeing a boy at such an early age that perhaps her parents or the community, saw the relationship between you too as becoming too involved? If her family were extreme Muslims who believed in Shariah law they could very well have arranged to have her removed to somewhere else where you would not have been able to contact her or worse still, kill her. As you know, while this practice is considered archaic here in North America, it does take place. Please note; Aqsa Parues who’s father and brother murdered her in Mississauga, On, Canada in 2007 and only because she was not following the basics of Islamic law. She was not even dating anyone!!!
If you could clarify this for me why exactly Faitima was taken away, that would be greatly appreciated. Words to any lyrics mean so much to me however, with this song there’s so much ambiguity to it that it keeps me wondering….please, put me out of my misery and let my thoughts lay to rest.
In the meantime, really enjoying all all your work (from your beginning to now) and congrats to all the effort it’s taken for you to get to this point in time in your life!! A ton of work , I know.
Sincerely,
Nan
Well, Nan, I thank you for the note. It was a great, great addition to the commentary.
From the sound of things, Fatima’s being “taken away” is a metaphor for her being shot. The song “Smile” on K’Naan’s first album offers the line “shot was my girlfriend.” And, during the concert discussed above, he mentioned, with understandably fleeting detail, that Fatima was murdered. By whom, I don’t know. In Somalia everyone seems to have the duplicitous potential to take and give life in a split-second.
So, whatever the back story (Shariah law, arranged marriage, cultural exclusion, war lords, random street violence, gangsters, pirates), she was killed, not taken away. But that’s just my opinion on the matter.
Like any great poet, K’Naan leaves the interpretation open to his audience. And hopefully the conversation carries well beyond our 2.0 culture’s all-too-short attention span.
Awesome, awesome conversation, Nan. Miss you ladies!
- JCH
please k’naan i love you more then everything try to feel my dhib macaanka walaahi am crazy about you bbbz
and i just listening your song walaahi you killed me but i don’t know why qalbi illahey caafimaad haa kuu siiyo macaane