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Country, God or the Girl

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Country, God or the Girl
Studio album by
K'naan
ReleasedOctober 16, 2012 (2012-10-16)
Recorded2010–2012
Genre
Length46:58 (standard edition)
63:09 (deluxe edition)
LabelA&M/Octone
Producer
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]

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]

Background and development

[edit]

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, 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

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Singles

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"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 number 67, before peaking at number 14.[7] 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 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 number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100[8] and at number 37 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart.[9]

Critical reception

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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

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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


Deluxe edition (Digital release)[12][13]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
17."Coming to America"
Harmony4:02

Personnel

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  • Smith Carlson – engineering[14]

Charts

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Chart performance for Country, God or the Girl
Chart (2012) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[15] 129
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[16] 13

References

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  1. ^ "Country, God or the Girl - K'naan". Metacritic. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  2. ^ "Country, God or the Girl - K'NAAN: Awards". AllMusic. October 16, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  3. ^ Langager, Ross. "K'naan: Country, God or the Girl". PopMatters. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  4. ^ "K'NAAN Set to Release Country, God or The Girl on Oct 16th". A&M Octone. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  5. ^ Paine, Jake (February 21, 2012). "K'Naan Announces Country, God Or The Girl Album, Nas, Bono Featured | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHopDX. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  6. ^ "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  7. ^ "Canada Singles Top 100 - Music Charts". ACharts.US. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  8. ^ "K'naan Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  9. ^ "Chart Beat - Definitive Sales & Airplay Analysis". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  10. ^ "Country, God or the Girl by K'NAAN".
  11. ^ K'Naan (December 8, 2012). "Opinion | K'naan, on Censoring Himself For Success". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  12. ^ https://open.spotify.com/album/4c1ux1JNqBZplD0zPefS73?si=st24wuSlTu2N2ccW2xByqA [bare URL]
  13. ^ https://music.apple.com/au/album/country-god-or-the-girl-deluxe-version/1442812785 [bare URL]
  14. ^ "Country, God or the Girl - K'NAAN | Credits | AllMusic".
  15. ^ Trust, Gary (October 25, 2012). "Chart Moves: Donald Fagen Charts Highest Album Since 1993 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  16. ^ "Top Rap Albums: Week of November 3, 2012". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
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