To reach your goal authentically is probably, in the end, going to mean much more to you than having reached it in a false way. K'naan Read Quote
I wasn’t making music consciously when I was younger. I was a musician, but that has its own stigmas. Anywhere on the planet, it’s one of the more undervalued positions. K'naan Read Quote
The people of Somalia just do not have a voice. They are to me the most forgotten people in the world. K'naan Read Quote
I don’t feel political most of the time. Sometimes I’m placed in positions because no one else will go there. K'naan Read Quote
Art isn’t held with the same high regard as it is after success. In any country, in any language, you’re a loser if you’re making music until you prove otherwise. K'naan Read Quote
The only way I see the world now is through coming out of and growing up and living in Somalia. In the time of war, everyone was basically trying to live and manage the best they could. But you also had another period which was not a hard time at all – it was just a beautiful time. I lived in both eras. K'naan Read Quote
It was interesting to find how dominating American vision is all over the world. I think there’s something to be said about the world’s mindset and its economics and all of that, and I think it affects the way we see ourselves and it affects music. K'naan Read Quote
The poetry I grew up on is really an intense form of poetry; it’s so pure and powerful. K'naan Read Quote
I know that often times a lot of people who work in music, whether they be labels and so on or even artists, want personal recognition. We want to be recognized for something, for what we did. I’d rather my song be recognized for what it’s doing and that’s important. It’s not so important how many people know me. K'naan Read Quote
