Toronto based rapper K’naan grew up amid upheaval and resilience. His family fled a country torn by civil war in Somalia, seeking safety and a new life in Canada. The early years in a new land demanded big adjustments: language barriers, cultural shifts, and the ache of leaving a homeland behind. Music soon became a steady compass that helped him navigate that turbulent transition. As his voice found form, his artistry evolved into a dynamic blend of rap, poetry, singing and storytelling, shaped by personal history as well as broader cultural experience. The artist earned wide respect for work that speaks with honesty and energy, and he became a three time Juno Award winner known for performances that fuse narrative power with rhythmic vitality. His ongoing career demonstrates how music can translate difficult beginnings into shared connections and how commitment to craft can redefine a life.
Today he moves his storytelling into a visually driven space, planning a book for young readers that enlarges the way his life is told. The project is a children’s book that invites families to walk through the moments that shaped his path from homeland to new home. Titled When I Get Older: The Story Behind Wavin’ Flag, the book is set to reach readers in Canada and the United States later this year. It is designed to be a warm, accessible entry point into themes of migration, belonging and resilience, told through a narrative voice that families can share together.
The book is a 32 page full color work illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. It tracks the artist’s journey to Canada and his escape from conflict, offering a window into those formative years. The hardcover and ebook editions will include lyrics and sheet music for the song Wavin’ Flag, giving young readers a direct link between the story and the music that has touched audiences around the world.
“I think of empathy as a muscle in the soul, which develops through the nutrition we provide for it. The stories we hear as children can be that nutrition,” K’naan explained in a public statement. The words anchor the book as a project built to nurture feeling and understanding, inviting children to see how a family can navigate change while preserving memory and identity within a new home.
He added that the book aims to reflect the new immigrant’s sense of family and identity, ideas that can sometimes seem lost in translation. In this account, Wavin’ Flag takes center stage as a character, a song whose ownership has been claimed by children in many places and cultures, and who carries the message of unity through melody and shared experience.
The release of the book aligns with the artist’s ongoing creative work, as he also prepares his third studio album, Country, God or the Girl, for release later this year. The project stands as part of a broader career built on storytelling through both words and music, continuing to invite audiences to reflect on migration, memory and belonging through art.