An Experience

So I just got back from the Wale K’naan show at the Metro, and it is in serious contention with Common for the best hip hop show of my life. My friend who I was there with, at one point was in tears. Have you ever been to a hip hop show that made you cry? I thought not.

To start the evening out we managed to get a spot on the front of a raiser, so we had a great view of the stage. Next, we were under the impression that Wale was opening for K’Naan, and I am I bigger Wale fan so we were talking about leaving after the Wale performance and maybe two or three K’Naan songs. I mean we asked the people working who was performing first and them told us it would be Wale, so we were more than surprised when K’Naan walked on the stage in a big furry hat after the opening act. Thank god he did or I may have missed one of the most moving performances of my life. For those of you who don’t know, a K’Naan song has been chosen as the theme song for the 2010 World Cup and the chorus goes, “When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom, just like a waving flag.” Before he performs this song he tells the audience about what it was like leaving Somalia on the last commercial flight out of the country and touching down in NYC. He says he literally thought, where are all my friends? Then he raps, and this is poetic, slowed down, you can hear every sylabblr of every word, rap, about the INS and his family fleeing to Canada. Then he tells us about witnessing his two best friends gunned down in front of him on a beach in Somalia, and during this refers to himself as “cry baby”. We were tearing up just listening to it, living through it obviously must cause tears like no other tears ever felt. It was one of the most amazing stories/poems I have ever heard in my life. My friend and I were standing next to a guy who has seen K’Naan like three times live and said that it’s the third time he’s heard the story, but I don’t care, it’s still a moving tale, and the more people that hear it the better. And in a cool twist of fate, our cab driver home ended up being Somalian, and I had a great conversation with him about K’Naan and the different tribes in Somalia. I feel educated and moved and feel like I had more of and experience than any other concert I’ve seen. This is what music and art is supposed to do for you.

I don’t want to leave without saying that Wale was amazing. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t play “Let It Loose” which has become a staple in my playlists, but besides that he was full of energy, and his DJ was amazing. K’Naan came out for “TV in the Radio” and you realize the significance of the line about other rappers not wanting to follow K’Naan.

Oh my god, the story was so amazing I almost forgot to mention Kate. Kate was this 13 year old girl someone on K”Naan’s team found playing his music on an acoustic guitar on YouTube. I guess Kate is from Chicago, and K’Naan brought her on stage for two songs, one done pretty much entirely by the teenager. And she looked exactly like any shy 8th grader would in her jeans and Addidas zip up. And while she wasn’t mind blowing, I fell in love for her. It was a very female empowerment moment. I kept imagining her going to school the next day talking about being on stage at the Metro with K’Naan and having the entire venue chanting “Kate! Kate! Kate! Kate!”

Here’s hoping that my friend who went with me tonight will agree to be a guest editor and spill her feelings on the concert and how much it moved her. Plus she was an English major so you know it’s going to be good.

I’m leaving now a very inspired, happy, moved individual and now that this is a concert that I will look back on for the rest of my life.