Arguably, rap music is rooted in the Blues. Hardship is an essential ingredient to the anthems of the genre.

If you’re hungry for new music, check out Rapper K-Naan originally from the slums of Mogadishu, Somalia.

He grew up listening to American gangsta rap and while respectful of their style and contributions he finds spitting about drive-bys and Bling small stuff compared to missiles and famine:

“Where rocket-propelled grenades are fired around you on a daily … a guy bragging on TV talking about how gangster he is?” K’Naan says. “For us, it’s more a source of entertainment. It’s more like a comedy or something we watch. Say, ‘Oh wow, that’s kind of cute of American gangsters.’ But it isn’t hardcore, it isn’t that bad. Let’s get things in perspective, you know?”    – K-Naan

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