I listened to an incredible interview between Jian Ghomeshi and K'Naan the other night while driving home. You can watch it here....K'naan interview
I was struck by how much he embodied what an artist is. To be driven to do something because of what is in you. He said he is driven to write and make music because it is something that comes from within him. What hit me to the core was how he kept saying that he continues to seek the meaning of why. Why here? Why success? Why now? Amazed at his impact on others, yet he openly said the stories of others touch him but are not what he thinks of when he writes.
K'naan spoke on giving everything when performing and then feeling no warmth left afterwards. To need to re-collect. To some extent I completely understand this feeling when you do something with all that you are and then, you have nothing. I so strongly identified with this as everything I have ever done that has a feeling of success or 'right-ness' in the doing has left me with a sense of this. When I teach or present, I give a peice of myself. I am not able to half ass it, not able to just push a button for a job. I simply am driven to be who I am, express it, reach out and connect. A blessing. A curse.... who knows. It is.
His struggles with darkness and depression and anxiety, his struggle with to find its meaning and place in his life -- this struck me. More and more people are opening up about their own mental/internal demons and I am amazed how much we all share the same issues and concerns. What is most incredible about the interview is the beauty of K'naan's persona... a poet who contains his pain and experiences as a refugee etc by encapsulating it in music
Lyrics | Knaan lyrics - Take A Minute lyrics
