K'Naan & Nas Discuss Meeting

Nas and celebrated Somalian rapper K'Naan have a burgeoning friendship, and the two hip hop artists revealed how they met and why working together is important. In a recent interview, the two shared how their differing perspectives help complement each other musically.

“We met through Jr. Gong—one of my closest homies—while Nas and Damian were working onDistant Relatives,” K’Naan said. “It was a great record, and I was privileged to be a part of it. That’s how we first linked.”

“I come from the United States, and he’s from Somalia” Nas explained. “So when he tells his story, it’s something new to my ears. It’s raw. It’s not coming from news channels; it’s coming from someone who’s actually from there. And coming from where I come from, there’s similarities when you tell those stories. There’s also big differences between our worlds that a lot of kids don’t know about. So you put us on a record together, you bridge those gaps…you see what it is.”