K’naan Festival Pier Concert Review
Philadelphia, PA — K’naan made a surprise appearance on the Festival Pier stage at Penn’s Landing. The Jason Mraz tour was suppose to open with G Love and Special Sauce at 7:00. But, at 6:30, K’naan and his band took the stage.
K’naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and spent grew up in Wardhiigleey “The River of Blood” during the Somali Civil War. His aunt, Magool, is a famous Somalian singer. His grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet. Youssou N’Dour saw K’naan give a speech in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and was so moved by the spoken word piece that he asked K’naan to appear on his 2001 album Building Bridges. His touring led him to collaborate with Bob Marley’s youngest son Damian Marley.
The name, K’naan, means “traveler” in the Somali language. He brought his traveling stage show to Philly delighting the unsuspecting crowd.
K’naan’s musical style is hard to put your finger on. It blends reggae and hip-hop with other worldbeat styles, which was perfect for the audience to dance along with on a summer day. K’naan says that he makes “urgent music with a message”, That is how his set started… with a “freedom song”. Next, he went into a song from Troubadour (his latest album) called “Take A Minute”.
How did Mandela get the will to surpass the everyday,
When injustice had him caged and trapped in every way,
How did Gandhi ever withstand the hunger strikes and all,
Didn’t do it to gain power or money if I recall,
It’s to give; I guess I’ll pass it on,
After performing another dancable tune, the band finished with their anthem “Wavin’ Flag”.
So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that’s what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.
As soon as they finished, the skies opened up, rain poured and lightening filled the sky — a fitting end to an electrifying concert.