Dave's K'Naan Review

From the first needle drop on the “Troubadour” it's clear what K’Naan's intentions are - infuse. So he does. He infuses his influences his heritage; his history and his dreams with catchy hip hop breaks and African arrangements. These elements enhance the messages K’Naan wanted to communicate; they help stories he tells on “Troubadour” to run deeper than the lyrics he spouts.

The lead Track “TIA”(for This is Africa) it sets the tone for “Troubadour”– one that crosses the preconceptions set up by cultural boundaries each of us bring to any form of art. Lyrically K’Naan has the skill and knowledge to sing about African politics and his homeland's penchant for Hip-Hop Heroism. On the flip side of that he is able to bring you in just as smoothly with his desire for love of a woman. For K’Naan this is all part of who he is and how he sees in his world.

Musically this record is pretty steady diet of worldwide influences (a la M.I.A) and it doesn’t feel forced, or added on like it might on another artist’s record (you know who you are). K’Naan has the production skill working with him to pull the experiments perfectly. The arrangements generally feel like party-esque tunes and I find myself happily repeating hooks all day along. The guest collaboration pairings with some of his ‘friends’ came from the bad wet dreams of record label boardrooms but overall they don't over shadow K’Naan himself. This is his record through and through. Lyrically the philosophical side of this album can sometimes feel bogged down in the amount of production some tracks have but re-listening to Troubadour proves a worthwhile venture. Satisfying if you will.

There seems to be two sides to K’Naan that are often at odds with each other on this record. On one side there is a proud African man who is full of talent, experience, and wisdom and this is his forum to educate.. The other is a boy who is realizing his dreams are coming true and he's enjoying the spoils of that success. No one can fault K’Naan for his indulgences into the excesses the music industry can offer a young talent. However I preferred the tracks where he revisits his roots and talks about where he comes from, and how he got here, and thankfully there is a plethora of those on here - buts that's the older fan in me. The 15 year old inside my soul (yeah I still got one) loved the party tracks – a lot.

Let's hope Polaris rewards K’Naan and he can keep the party (and lecture) going.