in Mogadishu, Somalia, just as the civil unrest that rocked the country was beginning, rapper K'NAAN spent the early years of his life trying to avoid death and listening to the hip-hop records sent to him from America by his father, who had left Somalia earlier. 

When K'NAAN (whose name means "traveler" in Somali) was 13, he, his mother, and his two siblings were able to leave their homeland and join relatives in Harlem, where they stayed briefly before moving to Rexdale, Ontario, where there was a large Somali community.

As soon as his English started improving, he began rapping, and in tenth grade he dropped out of school and traveled around North America for two years, performing occasionally. 

Being one of many who boarded the last commercial flight from Somalia, K'NAAN decided to dedicate his life to creating great music that's able to harmoniously cross various cultures and genres.

Through his friendship with Sol Guy, part of promotion team Direct Current Media, K'NAAN was able to perform at the United Nations' 50th anniversary concert in 1999, held in Geneva, where he used his platform to publicly criticize the United Nations' handling of the Somali crisis in the 1990s.

 One of the audience members, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album Building Bridges, a project through which K'NAAN was able to tour the world. 

 2002, he met Jarvis Church, part of the Track and Field Productions team that helped propel Nelly Furtado to fame, a connection that eventually led to a record. The Dusty Foot Philosopher came out in Canada in 2005, and was followed with tour spots with Mos Def and Talib Kweli, as well as a performance at Live 8. In 2007 the live album On the Road appeared and then, two years later, the album Troubadour became K'NAAN's first for the major label A&M. 

Marisa Brown, All Music Guide

 a native son of Somalia, K'NAAN Warsame didn't need to look far for creativity, as he was surrounded by numerous gems of artistic treasures in a country known as "The Nation of Poets." But he also didn't need to look far for child soldiers lumbering M16s across their tiny spines like backpacks, as the smells of carnage and desperation still linger in the air of his birthland.

2004: My Life Is a Movie

2005: The Dusty Foot Philosopher

2009: Troubadour

2006: "Til We Get There" (M-1 featuring K'naan)

2009: "L'Arme de Paix" (Oxmo Puccino featuring K'naan)

2009: "Think of All the Things" (KRS-One & Buckshot featuring K'naan)

2010: "In Jamaica" (Beatnick & K-Salaam featuring K'naan and Buckshot)

2010: "Wavin' Flag" with Young Artists for Haiti

2010: "Wavin' Flag (Coca Cola Spanish Celebration Mix)" (with David Bisbal)

2010: "Mask On My Face" (Chin Injeti featuring K'naan)

2010: "Each Tear" (Mary J Blige featuring K'naan)

2010: "Stop for a Minute" Keane featuring K'naan

Wavin' Flag lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics lyrics

When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say

[Chorus]

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.

But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,

[Chorus] 2x

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

[Chorus] 2x

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag

LYRICS

Ooooooh Wooooooh

Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration its around us, every nations, all around us

Singing forever young, singing songs underneath that sun

Lets rejoice in the beautiful game.

And together at the end of the day.

WE ALL SAY

When I get older I will be stronger

They’ll call me freedom Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

Oooooooooooooh woooooooooohh hohoho

Give you freedom, give you fire, give you reason, take you higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration, its around us, every nations, all around us

Singing forever young, singing songs underneath that sun

Lets rejoice in the beautiful game.

And together at the end of the day.

WE ALL SAY

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

Wooooooooo Ohohohoooooooo ! OOOoooooh Wooooooooo

WE ALL SAY !

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom
Just like a wavin’ flag

And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes back
And then it goes

Wooo hooooo hohohohoooooo

And everybody will be singing it

Wooooooooo ohohohooooo

And we are all singing it……!