This was a tricky album for me to evaluate. The main focus of the album is K'naan's experiences growing up in Mogadishu, and in addition to talking about those experiences, he puts forth an attitude throughout the album that what we, as an audience, can't judge him or those experiences, because we haven't lived that kind of life. He has a bit of a point there - I'm willing to admit that most of the people listening to Troubadour, myself included, did not grow up in a Somali slum, or deal with the level of violence and strife that people living there have to put up with on a daily basis. Admitting that, though, creates a bit of a difficulty for the audience, because appreciating and evaluating any work of art requires a certain amount of judgement, and if we're not allowed to judge the main focus of the album, it kind of creates this awkward, empty feeling about large chunks of the album.
Despite that, though, there are some really good moments on this album. K'naan provides some insightful analysis of the Somali piracy issue (more than I've seen on most newscasts) on the track Somalia, rocks some smooth beats on Bang Bang, and proves that he knows how to craft a damn good love song on Fatima.
Moments like those on those songs, though, ultimately end up being kind of frustrating, though, because the rest of the album doesn't live up to them, and you know that K'naan is capable of. The album reaches a nadir on the bizarre track 15 Minutes Away, which I think was intended to be a parody of the commercialization of hip-hop, but instead ends up sounding like an ill-conceived jingle. I guess you could almost argue that it's a metaphor for the entire album, as well: a good idea, flawed in execution.
No comments:
Post a Comment