The lineup for this year's installment of the Rock the Bells festival has been unveiled, and it's jam-packed with top-notch artists: Nas, Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley, the Roots, Common, and Big Boi of Outkast are just a few of the acts billed for the traveling hip-hop event.

If growing up in a tough hood makes you "real" in the hip-hop world, then K'naan has cornered the market on credibility. The MC was raised in Somalia's most dangerous region: Wardhiigleey, "the River of Blood." "The government targeted this neighborhood, tried to destroy it, because the rebels always came out of this zone," says K'naan (born Kaynaan Warsame).