''Country, God or the Girl'' is the third studio album by Somali-Canadian

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist K'naan. 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 had 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 (S ...

, U2 lead singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, American hip-hop and electronic artist and producer will.i.am and Canadian singer-songwriter

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

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), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

at number 67, before peaking at number 14. It notably topped the New Zealand charts and peaked at number 92 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "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 number 12 on the

and at number 37 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 advertis ...

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...

chart.

Critical reception

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

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, 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

*Smith Carlson – engineering

Charts

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