''The Dusty Foot Philosopher'' is the debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the Somali-

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rapper K'naan. It was released by

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

on June 7, 2005, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and on June 23, 2005, in the

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Critical reception

''The Dusty Foot Philosopher'' was widely acclaimed by critics. K'naan received particular praise for addressing serious topics, such as the wartorn conditions in his childhood home of

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

, while still managing to display lightheartedness and humor. K'naan's choruses were also singled out for praise, with reviewers labeling them "deft" and "infectious". A more mixed appraisal of the album's songwriting came from Miles Duncan of

Okayplayer Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists". The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...

, who opined that the album's focus on Somalia caused it to fall into "drab uniformity". The production on ''The Dusty Foot Philosopher'' received significant attention for its distinctive, African-influenced sound; critics particularly highlighted the splashing-water melody of opening track "Wash It Down", which

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

likened to Mbuti water drumming.

Awards

The album won the

Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year The Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year was introduced in 1991, and awarded for the best rap album in Canada. It was formerly known as Best Rap Recording from 1993 to 2002. Before 1999, because of the relatively limited commercial visibility o ...

in 2006 and was shortlisted for the

2006 Polaris Music Prize The inaugural edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize presented on September 18, 2006, at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre. The winning album was Final Fantasy's '' He Poos Clouds''. Nominees The prize's list of 10 finalist albums, chosen ...

. He also was nominated for an

mtvU MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. MTVU programming initially served 750 college and univ ...

award for most downloads of his song, "Soobax". In November 2007, the album was included in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s list of 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die. The album was put at 194 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s list of the Top 200 Greatest Rap Albums of All Time.

Soundtracks

"In the Beginning" is part of the soundtrack of the 2008 comedy ''

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to '' Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004), is the second installment in th ...

''. This song also gives the title for episode 7 of the fifth season of ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

'', appearing in the closing credits of the episode. "Soobax" was used on the soundtrack for the video game ''

FIFA 06 ''FIFA 06'', known as ''FIFA Soccer 06'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the Pl ...

''.

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusty Foot Philosopher, The 2005 albums K'naan albums Bertelsmann Music Group albums Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year recordings