''Country, God or the Girl'' is the fourth studio album by

Somali-Canadian Somali Canadians are Canadians of Somali origin or are dual Somali and Canadian nationality. Overview Most Somalis arrived in Canada between the late 1980s from Somalia and early 1990s as refugees, with some secondary migration from the United S ...

hip hop artist

K'naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominence ...

. It was released worldwide on October 16, 2012.

Background and development

The album was first announced in February 2012, with a release date of May 1, 2012. Coinciding with the announcement, he confirmed that he has collaborated with

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, U2 lead singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, American hip-hop and electronic artist and producer

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

and Canadian singer-songwriter

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

Release and promotion

Singles

" Is Anybody Out There?" was released as the lead single from '' More Beautiful Than Silence''. It features vocals from

. The song was released as a promotional single in the United States in early January, and as a single worldwide on January 24, 2011. The single made its chart debut on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

at #67, before peaking at #14. It notably topped the New Zealand charts and peaked at #92 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. "Nothing to Lose", featuring American hip-hop artist

, was released as the second single from ''More Beautiful Than Silence'' on February 1, 2012. " Hurt Me Tomorrow" was released as the album's first official single on May 1, 2012, notably the album's original release date. It peaked at #12 on the

and at #37 on the ''

'' 40 Pop Songs

Critical reception

''Country, God or the Girl'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". K'naan wrote an op-ed criticizing himself and his attempts to make the album more palatable for American audiences.

Track listing

Personnel

;Personnel *Engineering – Smith Carlson

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums K'naan albums A&M Octone Records albums Albums produced by Chuck Harmony Albums produced by RedOne Albums produced by Ryan Tedder Albums produced by Jon Levine