By the end of the year, Warsame unveiled a candid op-ed in the New York Times. He exposed the relentless pressure he faced during the creation of what would become his swan song. Warsame’s label nudged him to pivot his lyrics away from his Somali heritage and cater instead to an expanding American audience. He wrote, “For the first time, I felt the affliction of success.” The success raised an internal dilemma: “What do you do after success? How do you hold onto it?”
Following the op-ed, Warsame quietly vanished from the spotlight.
According to Warsame now, that disappearance was intentional. “I really wanted my sanity back,” he confessed. Despite a decade-long career before “Wavin’ Flag,” the unexpected stardom was overwhelming. Blending his identity with public perception blurred his sense of self. Warsame needed to reclaim his personhood. “I wanted to feel like a person again,” he admits, “and that took a decade.”
‘I’ve been keen on film as far back as I can remember’
During his hiatus, Warsame found sanctuary behind the scenes, diving into scriptwriting. In 2013, he penned his first script and entered Sundance’s renowned Directors Lab, which helped him develop a project from scratch. Transitioning from music to the visual medium, Warsame felt he could shorten the gap between his emotions and the finished product. “Art is about bridging the space between your feelings and creation,” he says.
Though some might be surprised by his shift to film, Warsame has long been a movie buff. Regular trips to the cinema—four times a week—left him as the go-to guy for film recommendations among friends. “I’ve loved movies as long as I can remember, maybe even longer than music,” he reflects.
While his Sundance script didn’t materialize, Warsame kept writing. HBO picked up one of his scripts—a drama series called “Mogadishu, Minnesota” about Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow—but it never aired. Still, his writing began to attract attention, leading to roles on Hulu’s “Castle Rock” and Apple TV’s “Extrapolations.”
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked the idea for “Mother, Mother.” In early 2020, Warsame’s mother called with news that his aunt was gravely ill. His mother advocated for surgeries to extend her sister’s life, while his aunt opposed it. They looked to Warsame for a decision. Avoiding the explicit struggles of this period, Warsame says it inspired him to explore the tough choices people face in life.
This concept became the crux of his film, where a Somali mother must decide in the aftermath of her son’s murder. “It’s like me getting them back,” he quips about his mom and aunt. The film, while fictional, features characters influenced by his family, including naming the mother Qalifo after his aunt.
Determined to showcase the beauty of Somalia, Warsame aimed to shoot “Mother, Mother” there. He recalls a time when Somalia was misrepresented in films, often replaced by another location or created by non-Somali filmmakers. But a wave of Somali-born cinema—like Mo Harawe’s “The Village Next to Paradise”—is changing this trend.
Due to insurance concerns, Warsame’s film was also shot in Kenya. “Somalia is a tough word in the world of insurance,” he explains, citing associations with piracy, war, and kidnappings. Convincing insurers of the safety of some Somali regions proved challenging but necessary.
Warsame draws inspiration from directors like David Lean, the Dardenne brothers, and Andrey Zvyagintsev, but Fernanda Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s “City of God” lit the spark. “If you can heal Brazil this way, maybe I can do that for Somalia,” he muses.
The future of K’naan’s music
With his directing career burgeoning, Warsame acknowledges he’s not fully stepping away from music. He’s sitting on at least two completed albums, already heard by a select group of friends. “I shared it with people who matter to me, and they’ve liked it. What more is there?” he shares.
The music industry has transformed during his sabbatical. From the glut of artists to the new ways of marketing, he struggles with the idea of making a TikTok-friendly dance routine for his songs. “I believe my work has value,” he says, “but the effort to grab attention now is more than I’m willing to exert.”
Despite lacking the powerful push of record labels, Warsame released a single last year titled “Refugee.” The song, reclaiming a word weaponized against him and others, felt like a return to his roots. Interestingly, “Refugee” won Warsame his first Grammy last year, earning the best song for social change award.
Meeting musical legends Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman made for a “best fantasy factory” moment. This time, Warsame enjoyed it without ego. He reflects, “There was no, ‘Am I recognized enough?’ I’m able to enjoy it now.”
