Country, God or the Girl

Country, God or the Girl is the fourth studio album by Somali-Canadian hip hop artist K'naan. It was released worldwide on October 16, 2012.[4]

Country, God or the Girl
Studio album by
K'naan
ReleasedOctober 16, 2012 (2012-10-16)
Recorded2010–2012
GenreHip hop, alternative rock, pop rock, afrobeat, folk
Length46:58 (Standard edition)
63:09 (Deluxe Edition)
LabelA&M/Octone
ProducerRedOne, Edwin "Lil Eddie" Serrano, Sham & Motesart, Chuck Harmony, Brian "Sweetwesty" West, Jimmy Joker, Jon Levine, Wayne Wilkin, Troy NoKA, Glass, Bob Ezrin , Alex da Kid, will.i.am, Ryan Tedder
K'naan chronology
More Beautiful Than Silence
(2012)		 Country, God or the Girl
(2012)
Singles from Country, God or the Girl
  1. "Is Anybody Out There?"
    Released: January 24, 2012
  2. "Nothing to Lose"
    Released: February 1, 2012
  3. "Hurt Me Tomorrow"
    Released: May 1, 2012
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
PopMatters6/10[3]

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, U2 lead singer Bono, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, American hip-hop and electronic artist and producer will.i.am and Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado.[5]

Release and promotion

Singles

"Is Anybody Out There?" was released as the lead single from More Beautiful Than Silence. It features vocals from Nelly Furtado. The song was released as a promotional single in the United States in early January, and as a single worldwide on January 24, 2011.[6] The single made its chart debut on the Canadian Hot 100 at #67, before peaking at #14.[7] It notably topped the New Zealand charts and peaked at #92 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Nothing to Lose", featuring American hip-hop artist Nas, 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 Canadian Hot 100[8] and at #37 on the Billboard 40 Pop Songs[9]

Critical reception

Country, God or the Girl received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, 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".[10] K'naan wrote an op-ed criticizing himself and his attempts to make the album more palatable for American audiences.[11]

Track listing
Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Seed"
Sham & Motesart3:35
2."Gold in Timbuktu"
Chuck Harmony4:34
3."Waiting Is a Drug"
  • Warsame
  • Gonzales
  • Harmon
Harmony3:17
4."Better"
Tedder3:15
5."Simple"
Sweetwesty3:26
6."Is Anybody Out There?" (featuring Nelly Furtado)
Sham & Motesart3:58
7."Hurt Me Tomorrow"
Tedder3:47
8."The Sound of My Breaking Heart"
  • Warsame
  • Jimmy Joker
  • RedOne
  • Lil Eddie Serrano
  • RedOne
  • Joker
3:51
9."Nothing to Lose" (featuring Nas)
Harmony3:57
10."70 Excuses"
  • Warsame
  • West
Sweetwesty4:11
11."Bulletproof Pride" (featuring Bono)
  • Sweetwesty
  • Levine
  • Harmony
4:42
12."The Wall"
  • Wilkins
  • Troy NoKA
  • Glass
4:27
Total length:46:58
Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Sleep When We Die" (featuring Keith Richards)
  • Warsame
  • Lil Eddie Serrano
Alex da Kid4:00
14."More Beautiful Than Silence"
  • Warsame
  • Harmon
Harmony3:53
15."Alone" (featuring will.i.am)
  • Bob Ezrin
  • will.i.am
3:49
16."On the Other Side" (featuring Mark Foster)
  • Warsame
  • Harmon
Harmony4:29

Personnel
Personnel
  • Engineering – Smith Carlson[12]

References
  1. "Country, God or the Girl - K'naan". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  2. "Country, God or the Girl - K'NAAN: Awards". AllMusic. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  3. Langager, Ross. "K'naan: Country, God or the Girl". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  4. "K'NAAN Set to Release Country, God or The Girl on Oct 16th". A&M Octone. Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  5. Paine, Jake (2012-02-21). "K'Naan Announces Country, God Or The Girl Album, Nas, Bono Featured | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  6. "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  7. "Canada Singles Top 100 - Music Charts". ACharts.US. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  8. "K'naan Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  9. "Chart Beat - Definitive Sales & Airplay Analysis". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  10. http://www.metacritic.com/music/country-god-or-the-girl/knaan
  11. K’Naan (2012-12-08). "Opinion | K'naan, on Censoring Himself For Success". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-15.
  12. http://www.allmusic.com/album/country-god-or-the-girl-mw0002420686/credits
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