Keinaan

Keinaan

Keinaan Biography

Somalia's Rapping Poet

In Somali, his name means <traveler>. From the tough and infamous neighbourhood of Wardhiigleey in Mogadishu where Keinaan spent his childhood, to Toronto, where he found refuge with his family as Somalia was sinking into chaos ten years ago, Keinaan has indeed come a long way. He is only 23 years old, but he is without doubt one of the most promising rappers of his generation. Youssou N'Dour, with whom Keinaan spent two weeks in Dakar in February recording a CD for the United Nations High Commissioner for Regugees (UNHCR) with some other great musicians, predicts a career at the top for the young Somali rapper. "His talent is just so obvious that I don't understand why he isn't already internationally famous. It is just a question of time and finding the right opportunities. To me there is no doubt Keinaan is going to be a big name", said the Senegalese superstar.

Keinaan has lived from his music for three years now. He released an album in 2000, "What Next", and is preparing a second one. Recorded on four tracks only in a home studio, "What Next" nevertheless captured attention, and earned Keinaan nominations in the Toronto African Music Awards. He won Best Composer, Best Artist and New performer Awards in Toronto and London, England. His touching and rich lyrics are like poems, which go straight to the heart of those who hear them. "To me, I use song writing as a means of expressing and analyzing the things that I feel. Rap offers me a return to poetry through the use of metaphors and analogies", explains Keinaan, who likes writing his songs quietly in his apartment with some incense and candles burning. Soft spoken and unassuming, he describes the feelings of sorrow and pain, sometimes even anger, that goes through him as he reflects on the world around him. In Must We Die, Keinaan talks about the arrival of the US forces in war-torn Mogadishu: "And now it's time to show our situation to the world, open their eyes wide like a dying little girl. CNN to the rescue, God bless you, to enhance their ratings, this is what they do".

For a whole generation of young Somalis who were born or are growing up in exile, with the tense emotional compromise of rootless ness and nostalgia, Keinaan's songs are like anthems of the dispossessed and he has a following which crosses all borders. "It's the wonderful flow he has when rapping and most of all the power of his words that make Keinaan so special", says Youssou N'Dour's brother Ibou, who elaborated the musical accompaniment of three of Keinaan's songs in Dakar. "I have worked with many rappers in the past, but what really touches me as an African is that I feel his lyrics talk about things he has experienced himself. Other rappers lyrics always have the same themes, like women for example, but not Keinaan, he goes much deeper".

On his mother's side, Keinaan comes from a family of poets and he is keeping the Somali tradition of story telling alive through his work. "He really is a poet, and on top of that there is some kind of magic about his personality. He has charisma, and everyone in my studio in Dakar felt comfortable with him", adds Youssou N'Dour. With his long and lanky silhouette which he wraps in oversized clothes, one can imagine Keinaan as a Somali nomad, a desert traveler, peacefully continuing his route in the urban environment he has adapted to in Canada. "There is a spiritual dimension in him. The way some of his words hit and stir my emotions made me feel like I was being possessed", adds Chartwell Dutiro, a Zimbabwean musician based in London who plays the Mbira, a sacred instrument. Equally at ease in images intertwined with a young urban culture. He has his own web site, www.keinaan.com
where his CD can be found, as well as pictures and information about his music and his performances in various cities, among which are Washington DC, Toronto, Geneva, London, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and New York.

Keinaan performed at Afrofest 2000.