Canadian rapper K’naan has been charged with one count of sexual assault related to an alleged incident from July 2010, according to The Canadian Press.
The charges were filed in a Quebec City courthouse on September 26, detailing an incident that reportedly took place between July 16 and 17, coinciding with K’naan’s appearance at the Festival d’été de Québec.
The complaint was initially lodged with Montreal police in May 2022, and the case was transferred to Quebec City after investigators determined that the alleged assault occurred in a hotel room within that jurisdiction.
The victim, who was 29 at the time of the incident, has remained anonymous. K’naan, whose real name is Keinan Abdi Warsame, was 33 years old at the time.
K’naan was not present in court when the case was presented. His legal team has requested that the trial be conducted in English, with a review scheduled for April 2025.
Earlier this week, K’naan received the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award at the 34th Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada Awards, honoring his 2009 hit “Wavin’ Flag,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 and served as the global anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Born on April 16, 1978, in Mogadishu, Somalia, K’naan moved to the United States with his mother and two siblings when he was 13. After a brief stay in New York, they settled in Toronto, where K’naan began learning English by listening to hip-hop artists like Nas and Rakim. He developed his rap skills despite the language barrier, but his upbringing in Toronto’s Rexdale neighborhood was marked by the loss of many friends to violence and other tragedies.