K'Naan was born in Somalia and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which started in 1991. Shortly after the war broke out, K'Naan moved to with his mother and three siblings to New York City, where they briefly joined family members who had previously fled the country. K'Naan and his family then relocated to Toronto, Canada, where he began his career as a rapper.
K'Naan's aunt Magool was a very famous singer in Somalia. She sang patriotic songs in the '70s but went into self-imposed exile after singing Islamic songs that criticized Somalia's then-ruling military government. In 1987, Magool returned to the stage and performed in front of 15,000 people, marking the largest concert in Somali history. Unfortunately, Magool died of breast cancer in 2004.
In 2010, K'Naan's song "Wavin' Flag" was chosen by Coca-Cola to be their official theme song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. K'Naan also performed the song as part of the company's FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, which took him to 86 different countries around the world. "Wavin' Flag" became a #1 hit in several of those countries, including Mexico, Austria, China, Germany, and Switzerland.
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