Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan, whose smash song “Wavin’ Flag” became the anthem for the 2010 soccer World Cup, was charged with s*xual assault on Thursday, according to local media.
The 47-year-old rapper, real name Keinan Abdi Warsame, is accused of s*xually assaulting a lady in her twenties in July 2010 while in the Canadian city for a music festival.
In court on Thursday, his lawyers pleaded not guilty on his behalf. He was reportedly not present.
A preliminary hearing in the lawsuit is set for April 2025.
Born in Mogadishu in 1978, the rapper fled the war-torn Horn of Africa country at the age of 13 and grew up in Toronto, where he turned to rap to learn English, but now lives in New York.
His criticism of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999 drew the attention of Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour, who encouraged him to contribute to an album, establishing his musical career.
His soccer song is a thumping performance that has thunderous percussion and a reggae theme.
K’naan took a long hiatus following his album “Troubadour,” but returned in 2023 with new music that earned him the Recording Academy’s special merit award for outstanding song for social change.
He also made his directorial debut with the film “Mother Mother” at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.
K’naan received an award from the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada for “Wavin’ Flag”‘s global cultural effect.