K'naan

Transplanted Somali MC finds hip-hop inspiration at Bob Marley's Jamaican crib.
Photographed for SPIN by Dave Minchin

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).

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