K\'naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher torrent

K'Naan
The Dusty Foot Philosopher
(BMG)

One-upmanship has been a part of rap since before there was rap. So when the Toronto-based rapper K'naan insists -- as he does in nearly every track on The Dusty Foot Philosopher -- that he has more street-cred and had a tougher upbringing than the next guy, it would be easy to dismiss such braggadocio.

That is, were it not for the fact that K'naan spent the first 13 years of his life surviving on the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. Suffice it to say Eminem's problems with his Mom pale in comparison.

But a good story does not necessarily a good hip-hop CD make, and The Dusty Foot Philosopher must ultimately stand or fall on its musical merits. Fortunately, negotiating his way forcefully through a gritty sandstorm of spoken-word and African instrumental interludes, K'naan brings us a collection of funky, original backgrounds nearly as weighty as the cautionary words that float above them.

It all makes for a refreshing new voice that describes the contemporary Canadian experience far more vividly than the multitude of Canucks borrowing sentiments from the streets of New York and L.A. Score another for K'naan.