Keinan Abdi Warsame, known as K’naan, was born on 1 February 1978, in Mogadishu, Somalia. K’naan is a rapper, and also a great instrumentialist as well as a song writer and poet. However, although he has been active in his career since 2001, he is certainly best known from the year of 2010, when K’naan’s single Wavin` Flag was selected to be the anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Soccer Cup, which obviously boosted K’naan net worth and brought him a lot of fame.
So just how rich is K’naan? Sources estimate that K’naan’s net worth is currently $1 million, virtually all of it having been accumulated through his various activities in the music industry.
K’NAAN Net Worth $1 Million
K’naan inherited his talent for singing and writing from his family: his father was an acknowledged poet and his aunt was a singer, who sang to him when he was a child, which inspired K’naan to start his career in singing. K’naan spent most of his childhood years in Mogadishu, but the civil war forced his family to leave, first to New York, and then to Toronto, Canada, where some of his family members are still living. When his family moved to New York K’naan could not speak English, however, he learnt it by listening to music, mostly songs in the hip hop and rap styles.
The reason why K’naan is so popular is his unusual ability to blend totally different music sounds, mixing up hip hop with jazz, Somali music and other types as well. As a singer, K’naan has released six studio albums, the first in 2004 named as My Life Is a Movie. His others albums include The Dusty Foot Philosopher (2005), The Dusty Foot on the Road (2007), Troubadour (2009), More Beautiful Than Silence (2012) and Country, God or the Girl (2012), all of which have boosted his net worth.
K’naan is also known for his collaborations with other artists. He has worked with Amadou & Mariam, Keane, the American rapper Wale, Spanish artist David Bisbal, Damian Marley, Nas, KRS-One, Simple Plan and many others. K’naan is also the winner of four Juno Awards: Rap Recording of the Year (2006), Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (both in 2010), Single of the Year (2011). K`naan was rewarded with Mobo Awards for African Artist of the year in 2010.
As regards his writing career, K’naan is the author of several books: Talking Back to the Empire (2007), Censoring Myself for Success (2012) and Returning to Somalia After 20 Years (2011). The sales from the published copies of these books have benefitted K’naan’s net worth considerably.
K’naan is a generous philanthopist: in 2011, he joined with Bono to raise awareness of that year’s drought in Eastern Africa, also teaming with associate Sol Guy in performing concerts for the cause. K’naan also supported the Canadian Bill which helped to increase medical assistance to countries in Africa.
K’naan was married to Deqa, with whom he has two sons born in 2005 and 2007 but they divorced before he started touring for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
[on writing 'Maanokobiyo', his proposed film about war-torn Somalia] I'm really genuinely sleepless from curiosity. I don't know how that all comes together, and I'm like that about music also. I get obsessed over work, over the idea of a song or the feeling of a song or something I have to do when I get to the studio. But I always wonder how what's in my head, the song in my head, and now in this case the film in my head, will look like. There are certain stories that are best suited for a visual medium, and so it's not that I would like to be a filmmaker. It's just that I have a film to make.
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Who's Doing the Dishes?
2016
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Glastonbury 2015
2015
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Tu cara me suena mini - España
2014
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Tu cara me suena - Argentina
2014
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Neighbors
2014/I
performer: "Hurt Me Tomorrow" - as K'NAAN / writer: "Hurt Me Tomorrow" - as Keinan Warsame
Frauenherzen
2014
TV Movie writer: "The Lazy Song" - uncredited
Todd's Pop Song Reviews
2011-2013
TV Series documentary writer - 5 episodes
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
2013
writer: "La Da Dee" - as Keinan Warsame
Levenslied
2013
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Cosmopolis
2012
lyrics: "Mecca" / performer: "Mecca"
The Voice
2012
TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
TV Series performer - 2 episodes, 2010 - 2012 writer - 2 episodes, 2010 - 2012
The Footy Show
2011
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Born to Be Wild
2011
Documentary short performer: "Wavin' Flag" / writer: "Wavin' Flag" - as Keinan Warsame
The Roommate
2011/I
performer: "ABC's" / writer: "ABC's" - as Keinan Warsame
Grey's Anatomy
2010
TV Series performer - 2 episodes
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2010
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Step Up 3D
2010
performer: "ABC's" / writer: "ABC's" - as Keinan Warsame