Abstract
This chapter looks at negotiations of identity in rap music, using the example of Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan. Rap is an established performative practice based on set formulas, characters, plots and frames. Additionally, and most importantly, rap relies on a subtle combination of words and images which are propagated via music videos, live performances, Internet platforms and so on. How did K’naan employ different media and modalities to construct his apparently authentic rapper persona? The chapter looks at a selection of (multimedial) performances that reflect K’naan’s transition from underground Somali rapper-poet to commercial Somali-American pop star.
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- 1.
My use of the term ‘rap music’ rather than ‘hip hop’ is based on distinctions drawn by scholars such as Adam Bradley and Andrew Dubois, who see rap as the musical manifestation of a wider cultural phenomenon that includes not only MC-ing but also DJ-ing, breakdancing and graffiti: “Rap and hip-hop are not synonymous, though they are so closely associated that some use the terms interchangeably. […] Hip-hop […] is an umbrella term to describe the multifaceted culture of which rap is but a part. MCs, hip-hop’s masters of ceremonies, are its literary artists. They are the poets and rap is the poetry of hip-hop culture” (2010, xxix; emphasis in original).
- 2.
See also Stuart Hall’s discussion of “the old logics of identity,” which he traces back to Cartesianism: “It contains the notion of the true self, some real self inside there, hiding inside the husks of all the false selves that we present to the rest of the world. It is a kind of guarantee of authenticity” (1997, 42).
- 3.
Throughout this article, I chose to use the term ‘transnational’ instead of ‘international’ because the first indicates more precisely the quality of “going beyond national boundaries” while the latter is often understood as a relational term “involving two or more nations” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary). The influence of music stars such as K’naan is indeed often described as ‘transnational’ because the whole point of their success is that they transcend the boundaries of their country and culture and appeal to fans in various national and cultural contexts.
- 4.
In a short film shot to introduce his song and music video to a wider audience, K’naan translates the word “Soobax” (“come out with it”) and the chorus of the song (K’naan 2007). The fact that he features as translator and cultural mediator in this short film can be seen as another important manifestation of his performance persona as a Somali poet-rapper, which operates parallel to the music video itself. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-hr1o8ZbQ (accessed 14 August 2017).
- 5.
Transcript from Rap Genius, https://genius.com/Knaan-soobax-lyrics (accessed 14 August 2017).
- 6.
- 7.
It is also important to highlight that K’naan has referred to the great importance of Somali poetry in most interviews.
- 8.
- 9.
The reference to fighting is intentional here; as Imani Perry has argued, rap music often takes on the shape of a verbal boxing match, an aspect that is still manifested in hip hop battles. Many rap songs have moved the battle to the virtual performance arena, but this explains why so often speakers in rap music address specific opponents (2004, 58–61).
- 10.
The coverage of Somali piracy in the international press began around 2008 and experienced a peak in 2009, when the US vessel Maersk Alabama was hijacked off the coast of Somalia and its captain taken hostage. The event was made famous by the Hollywood film Captain Phillips (2013), starring Tom Hanks. Following the ‘rhetoric of failure’ that has been used in much of the Western conception of the Somali civil war, most articles and news reports focused on the stunning appearance of Somali pirates, carrying bazookas and piloting small speed boats across the ocean. Many reports remained apparently oblivious to the dramatic gap between the pirates’ DIY strategies and the highly sophisticated large cargo ships they invaded. For a critical postcolonial reading of the perception of Somalia as a “failed state,” see Hitchcock (2007). On the media coverage of Somali piracy as a form of “moral panic” in the international community, see Collins (2012).
- 11.
- 12.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amXeJrA-wDc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQRR2Rnha9Q (accessed 14 August 2017).
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Music Videos
K’naan. 2007. Introducing. YouTube, September 5. Accessed August 14, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-hr1o8ZbQ.
———. 2009. Soobax. YouTube, January 12. Accessed August 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVY30buW4Q.
———. Wavin’ Flag (Celebration Mix). Universal Music. Accessed August 14, 2017. http://www.universal-music.de/knaan/videos/detail/video:226379/wavin-flag-celebration-mix.
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Sobral, A. (2019). “That was my truest voice”: Rap Identities Between Authenticity and Fame. In: Riquet, J., Heusser, M. (eds) Imaging Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21774-7_10
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