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K'naan is a Somali-Canadian hip hop artist born on April 16, 1978, in Mogadishu, Somalia. His family emigrated to Harlem, New York City, during the civil war and later moved to the Jamestown neighborhood in Rexdale, Toronto, where K'naan began his musical career within a small Somali-Canadian community. He comes from a family with a rich musical heritage; his aunt is one of Somalia's most famous singers, and his grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a renowned poet. K'naan, whose name means "traveler" in Somali, is a practicing Muslim. In 1999, K'naan gained attention after performing a spoken word piece before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where he criticized the UN's aid missions to Somalia. This performance caught the attention of Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, leading to K'naan's contribution to N'Dour's 2001 album, "Building Bridges," which allowed him to tour internationally. His early career included performances at various UN events, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Halifax Pop Explosion, where he met Canadian producer Sol Guy and his Track & Field team, who helped produce his debut album, "The Dusty Foot Philosopher," released in 2005. The album received critical acclaim, winning the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2006 and the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the newcomer category for

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