"Somalia" K'Naan 2009

We hear a lot about Somalia -- the violence, the protests, the pirates -- but it's almost always from the point-of-view of outsiders gobsmacked at the country's seemingly never-ending chaos. Which is why this anthem by Somali-Canadian rapper K'Naan, who escaped to Toronto as a refugee, hits so hard. Simply by describing the daily horrors which he grew up amongst, and juxtaposing it against the supposedly hardcore upbringings that mainstream MCs rap about, K'Naan not only takes us behind the news reports, but puts hip-hop and Somalia itself into perspective.