K’naan Soobax(song) and Interview
Nov 2nd, 2009 by Raheem Noormohamed
This video is an interview/short clip with a Somali-Canadian rapper named K’naan. The video was shot by his promotional staff, and was shot in Nairobi. The direct purpose of the video is for him to speak about his Video for a song called “Soobax.” The song as well as its lyrics are posted here.
In the video, K’naan speaks about his childhood in Mogadishu and his life as a refugee. He comments on his return to East Africa, and the importance of himself as a Somali musician. He shoots the music video in a neighborhood in Nairobi, known as Eastleigh, which is a large slum where many Somali refugees have settled. He speaks about the particular song he is recording and articulates the gist of the song. His view is basically that those responsible for violence in Somalia are at the root of the problems in the state and that is time for those same individuals to be held accountable for their crimes. I was introduced to him a few months ago, and much of his music has a similar tone.
It has been stated both on the blog and in class that alternative modes of expression are common for the subaltern. Music is an alternative means of expression. The “subaltern” have been stripped of their voice, their ability to articulate their views and their ability to really contextualize their own struggles to others using their own knowledge. It is tough to say however, if Music and or other art forms affect the elite in a way that calls them to action. Another important question is whether or not music is produced on “the periphery” or in the center. It is also important o consider who is listening to music that has the purpose of bringing voice to subjugated individuals or communities.
K’naan uses both Somali and English in his music, and he also uses traditional forms of Somali music at times. In this song the chorus in Somali and his angry tone really help him to get his point across. But, it is unclear whether this song is meant for a Somali audience that can relate to what he is saying or a Western audience that is unfamiliar with his point of view. Nonetheless, his use of Somali in this song, while still making it clear that it is hip-hop, allows it to effect any listener. He is really trying to give many Somalians a voice with this song, but on their own terms by using their language, alluding to aspects of Somali culture, shooting the video in an area where many Somali refuges have settled and speaking about the desires of these refugees. I believe that almost any refugees displaced from their home, and who live in poverty truly represent the subaltern. The main critique of subaltern modes of expression is that these forms of expression are often stuck in forms of Western discourse. I think K’naan is challenging this, and is using an effective method of speaking to the world without being subjugated to dominance discourse. However, there are certain elements that could take away from this, such as the fact that he is signed to a mainstream record label.
Ideas about piracy or ideas of Somalia as a failed state are the most common perceptions of a nation. K’naan and other critics have an interesting take on the roots of piracy in Somalia. There are some parallels that can be drawn between what we are studying in Columbia, and what is occurring in Somalia, with illegal fishing or waste dumping. In this case, piracy is a form of social struggle to many global and potentially capitalist processes. Or it is a means of fighting accumulation by dispossession. It is an interesting phenomenon that could be discussed quite a bit.
Somalia has been described as the world’s most “Failed State.” A stable, democratic state could not be formed based on Western models, and thus it is a “failure.” This is a strong example of how discourse affects development, since Somalia is heavily underdeveloped and its lack of stable statehood is often seen as the underlying reason for this. K’naan states in the video, that is really the “gunmen,” the warlords, who have power in the State, and he makes it clear that the people of Somali, many of whom were displaced, want to live in their homes in a peaceful society. This illustrates that political failure was not inherent in the Somali people or their culture, as many mainstream sources present as factual.
Development in Somalia is a major topic in itself but K’naan and his music speak to issues that must be dealt with when looking to promote development in Somalia. I recommend listening to some more of K’naan’s music, some of it really gives “voice” to many who cannot “speak.” Here are some links to songs I find that would fall into this category:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf7oVRo0tro&feature=channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZwQZ19EKm8
On a personal note, I have visited Eastleigh in Nairobi and it is really the way K’naan describes it in the video. It was an area that other Kenyans do not really visit, and from what I could tell the people I saw there were all of Somali origin. I have most of my family in Nairobi, and the Indians in Nairobi are part of the elite. The huge differences in the places inhabited by these “foreign” groups in Nairobi realy struck me.
10 Responses to “K’naan Soobax(song) and Interview”
Great Post!
Music is certainly a key way for the subaltern to give voice to his experience. We also construct it as a universal language, no matter the language I think you can always discern the tone of the person singing. I think there are long traditions of this approach all over the world, but in my experience it is particularly strong in various parts of Africa. Part of my family is Nigerian so I have grown up on a steady diet of Fela (or rather Fela Anikulapo Kuti), Nigeria’s (and I would argue Africa’s) greatest musician. I think it was Fela, who first coined the phrase “music is the weapon”. His music and that of so many others like Lagbaja, Hugh Masekela or Miriam Makeba is protest music at its best, raw powerful and transcendental – weaving (or in the case of some Fela, charging headlong) across boundaries of space and place. In the case of Fela, by creating his own genre of music (afrobeat) and initiatives like the Kalakuta Republic he created spaces in an environment that previously gave no room for public criticism of government and where ideas of black and African pride, pan-Africanism had not had room to grow. It’s music that no one stands still or isn’t moved by, regardless of whether you understand Xhosa, siSwati or Pidgin.
Indeed an amazing post. I remember listening to this song when it came out on TV in Southern Africa in 06/07 and all of my classmates and I were totally taken by K’naan’s vibe. It is amazing the power that music has to move people, yet often when we hear music we forget to listen. I used to sing this song, my classmates even my 4 year old brother used to chant the words of K’naan, but we were oblivious to the message. Yet again an example of the subaltern speaking but we don’t listen and understand what they are saying. We wait for translations that often lose meaning and power, yet I see no alternative. I will never understand every language in the world so I will never to be able to fully hear firsthand what everyone has to say. We have to rely on translation. We have to rely on alternatives to compel us to want to listen, to understand more than what is of our interest, the effects we feel on our skin, to really open the spaces for the subaltern to be understood.
i totally with the first comment about how music can be a way for subaltern to speak. I think the music especially with the tone and lyrics can express the feelings of the composer and lyricists. I can feel the pain of being dispossessed from the singer. Further, with this song being made into a music video, there are some images that really spoke to me. the little kid looking out the video for example was interesting to me.
Seeing K’nann and this video actually makes me proud to be Canadian. Here is a guy that was able to escape a war on Somalia, go to Canada, and start an extremely successful career as a musician! She performs alongside other Canadian artists (like Nelly Furtado). Plus, I think tons of Canadians appreciate where he is from and what he went through, and love that he shot this video to show his fans his country.
What I liked about the music video was the contrast of a powerful message and lyrics, with upbeat lively song. It was great K’naan chose to stay positive with his videos images – and I especially liked how he showed both the love and joy in the city and the peaceful nature.
Wow, cool Post. I really like how K’naan people-s Mogadishu by showing the love and liveliness of the place.
Sometimes, I think music and music videos from the South shed more light into the multifaceted nature of the people and places than what NGO’s can do. You know, the sorts of images that would come out of non-profits are usually people suffering from diseases, starving because of lack of access to food, dying from civil conflicts, etc etc. And these images are moving and powerful and everything. But sometimes, these depictions, unfortunately, end up reinforcing the “poor needy people” representation exploited by the mainstream/neoliberal camp in one way or another. People do struggle to survive in the South. But they’re definitely more full-bodied than the materialistic.
That’s why I felt a bit weird watching the video in class today and this post because I’m so used to perceive the subaltern in the conventional way. I find myself connecting better on a personal level to cultural and social abundance in Mogadishu showed in this video than reading stuff on international interventionism and piracy in Somalia.
I find it interesting that this video has garnered the most reflections, it has almost twice the amount of comments the other videos on this site have. Something about this video seems to have peaked our interest.
I’ve had a bit of a difficult time articulating this and it certainly echoes some of the above comments, but I think that the thing about this video that caught my attention was a unique mix of familiarity (it’s a song) and foreign authenticity (created by a “local” and featuring local realities and people). Music is a communicatory currency with which I, as a western/northern student, can connect. I know how I relate to music, all I have to figure out is how to process the message. As the message in the video seems to be different than the ones we usually see coming from this region of the world, the relat-ability of the packaging is helpful. If the message/presentation in this video is representative of a subaltern voice, it seems to facilitate a space for connection and engagement…. one where the privileged listen to a message from the majority world, instead of the other way around.
A related anecdote: K’naan has another song called “Wavin’ Flag” which is, from what I can gather, about growing up in Somalia. I played it in a dance class for 8-14 year olds, and the song was met with excited recognition… mainly in the form of “Oh my gosh… I love this song!”. I think that even if some of the message is lost in translation, the fact that younger people are listening to and becoming familiar with an alternate voice through K’naan’s music is important, even if, as Williee suggested, they don’t always hear or value the entirety message.
I was very surprised at the amount of comments generated with my post. I really think it is the difference is the style of delivery of the voice that makes music so appealing. K’naan really has done a great job of bringing voice to a large number of people. Unfortunately I feel that in terms of young people listening to this sort of music much of the meaning is lost in translation, but the alternative type of sound K’naan uses in his music probably resonates with even a younger audience, and like Willy and Jennifer mentioned above this would probably have some impact on young listeners. I reccomend two other songs by him, “Hoobale” and “Until the Lion Learns to Speak,” the links to the first is posted on the original posting and the second can easily be found on you tube. I feel both these songs give a strong and distinct voice to the people K’naan chooses to represent, even moreso than “Soobax.”
To build on some of the comments above, what I find most interesting about K’naan’s music is the way he seems to always be trying to draw comparisons between North America and Somalia – to make a connection.
I think, especially compared to the significant chunk of rap and hip hop music in the U.S. that is focused around guns, gangs, girls, ghettos, etc. K’naan stands out, and he uses this to his advantage. He does a great job about pointing out the ridiculous aspects of North American rap (and by extension most of the rest of North American culture, too), making the posturing look rather silly by comparison.
I think sometimes he goes a bit too far with this, though. I’ve had this conversation with my brother, who had said, “I like K’naan, I just wish he’d shut up about Somalia and how he’s tougher than everybody because he grew up there.” I think there’s some truth in this. Even in this interview he starts talking about “the projects” and using other catchwords from U.S. rap/hip-hop culture. For me, this waters down his message significantly.
But overall I think it’s good that he’s making these connections, and trying to put it in North American terms, because it puts Somalia on the map for a lot of people. Even if we’re getting a picture of it painted only in metaphors – a weird hybridized version – it’s still drawing attention to things we’re not used to seeing, especially in the medium of a music video (this blog and class aside).
That probably helps explain the number of comments, as well.
I have always been fascinated with hip hop, it is a movement that people of all types and backgrounds take part in. The “dusty foot philosopher” has taken hip hop and jumped continents, while not the first, K’naan uses hip hop as a device to tell his story through music. The funny thing about hip hop is that it is recognizable all over the world. Story telling is at the heart of hip hop, it is what differentiates it from rap music. Often the stories told through hip hop have real life illustrations of one’s life or use a fictional story to portray a message. K’naan utilizes the power of hip hop to present his story enlightening people of his struggle and showing others how to find voice through music.
I find it interesting that K’naan uses both Somali and English in his music. As you mentioned in the blog post, language is important to considering if the subaltern meet us at the margins or at the centre, within the spaces of the institutions that produce power/knowledge. It shows how geographically situated the spaces of the margins and the centre are—English is the language of the centre, the official language of many countries dominant in the global sphere.