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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > October > 02 > Entry
ACL taping: Mos Def and K’Naan
Thursday, October 1 marked a day in Austin City Limits history on two fronts. First the 34-year-old television show was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in an afternoon ceremony. Later in the evening the show welcomed rappers K’Naan and Mos Def to the stage in the first hip-hop show ever to be recorded in the show’s history.
It was a memorable evening indeed. I’m still processing. But here are a few thoughts.
K’Naan:
In my opinion, the Somali-Canadian rapper, who fled his wartorn homeland at age 13, is one of the deepest artists working these days. He opened his set explaining “I write the experiences that were given to me. I write between the line of tragedy and beauty.” Then he spent the next hour delivering both. Launching his performance with a drum and a handclap, he proceeded to blend traditional East African sounds with everything from hip hop to thrash in a whirlwind tour of songs about his homeland, at times marked by brutal fury and in other moments full of wistful longing. Highlights include a haunting a Capella version of the song “Somalia.” The heartbreaking yet celebratory memorial to a fallen friend “Fatima.” And, of course, the infinitely triumphant closing track, K’Naan’s signature, “Waving Flag.”
Mos Def:
The Mighty Mos was in the house! With timpani-flanked drum kit onstage and a pair of turntablists at his back, the rapper threw down. Hard. The venue suited him, an actor/musician who knows how to play to the camera as well as crowd. From the thunderous drums woven with Eastern samples of opening track “Ecstatic,” the title track of his latest album, through the throwback conclusion with his 1999 track “Umi Says,” the rapper was riveting. Explosive. Whether pounding the drums while performing or laying himself bare in the center of the stage he commanded the room. He threw down rhymes, he danced a samba, he wailed for god. He vamped, playing a crazy lounge singer. He paid tribute to Michael Jackson with his own rendition of “Billie Jean”. He moonwalked. Heart on sleeve, his performance bled passion. Highlights include throwback track “Don’t Push Me,” a ferocious version of the new album’s “Quiet Dog” and the collab track with K’Naan “America.”
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By Maruf
October 9, 2009 4:21 PM | Link to this
I saw K’naan at the ACL fest and he was amazing. I am not a big hip-hop fan but this was redefining.