#wavin flag

"[then] OK JUST PRESS THE PLAY BUTTON LOCATE [connect to the] PARTY": this part was SO good like allen being smooth with it instead of so harsh and rough like he usually is and it's so much fun to sing bc of it!!

“MUSIC MAKE US HOT LIKE PICASSO”: hajun i love you but what the FUCK does this mean. i have no clue!! but it's so catchy!!

"everything you can imagine is real . . . like [paradise and] CHILL": as long as we're on PARADISE lyrics. i LOVE this one. especially how hajun's voice dips really smooth near the end UGH it's like asmr for me

"play button [hitotsu de] hit yo groove": another high quality PARADISE line!! as you can tell i am biased for this song!!

"[everyone] how you doin' WHAT'S UP!": okay this one is SO funny bc it sounds exactly like how'd you expect a guy who speaks only one language trying to combine two and it's just. god. normally they're so on point with their flow but something about this makes me lose my shit

"every scar will build my throne": i just think this metal as fuck and i would totally throw it into a fantasy setting. god bless you hajun i'm just so sorry i know what your scars are :'))

"oh yeah we're feelin' good, [look] it's like an [antlions' trap]": this is just more blatant appreciation for how fucking smooth hajun is. just. <333

"no struggle no progress, we can make it happen": look everything about wavin flag is fucking powerful but i LOVE how anne sings this with so much confidence and self-assurance. like. what the fuck. and this is only like. THREE SECONDS into the song

from "never look back going all the way up (]burning with passion, attack on] PLAYER)" ------> "BAE SOUND HIT THE GROOVE": ALL OF THAT AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN HAS ME FUCKED. THE RAMP-UP. THE ENERGY. HAJUN GOES SO HARD AND DOES IT SO WELL. and allen is a fantastic assist too LMAO

on that note??? the ENTIRETY of anne's chorus makes me lose my shit every single time. i've got "[GET UP] STAND UP NEXT STAGE, [BECOME THE WIND] WE ARE THE NEW AGE" implanted in my brain. like. WAVIN' FLAG is hardcore and i love it for that

EMBLEM is another one where the chorus goes hardcore and i can't just break it all down . . . like how they go from "MY EGO MY EGO" in english and match it with lyrics that phonetically sound the same in japanese but still add meaning to the song??? THAT WAS A FUCKING POWER MOVE. WHAT. THE COINCIDENCE OF THAT BEING WHAT THEY NEEDED. SAW THE OPPORTUNITY AND GRABBED IT IN A CHOKEHOLD.

“BANG! gonna blow your ass”: absolutely adore this one. it’s so distinctly allen in that it’s got explosions and cursing and it’s a threat. like. allen. baby. please. i would prefer my ass NOT blown up but also!!! i support you!!!

"you can't stop me lovin' myself cause i'm so genius (EY)": look i'm sorry but the way allen slides into the "EY" at the end cracks me up EVERY time. he sounds so arrogant and i love that for him!!

also just. hajun's solo part from "some people say i'm wrong" to "i'm gonna be who i wanna be": i fucking love that for him. he DESERVES to be that cocky and unbothered!!! he's had enough shit!!!

special shoutouts go to:

"jumping into my world" bc fuck if it isn't one of the most serotonin-boosting songs i've heard in a while. i love how anne and reo take turns with the build-up to the chorus. it's so catchy and singing along to it cheers me up every single time

"why do you like me": THIS. THIS FUCKING SONG. THE ONE MASHUP LINE IN THE CHORUS MAKES ME FEEL SO MANY THINGS. SATSUKI AND ANNE DESERVE HAPPY THINGS ONLY OKAY I LOVE THEM

Wavin' Flag' by K'NAAN is one of the most understated, yet potent songs in the diaspora repertoire. As a Somali-born raised in Canada after being displaced by civil war, K'NAAN's music is loaded with the burdens of being forced to leave home. The song started off as a song about survival, about not disappearing, not surrendering, not dying when the world seems to have given up on you. Later, when it became the FIFA World Cup theme song for 2010, the song was transformed into a global celebration but the original spirit, which was a tale of real refugee experience, remained. This is an excellent example of “music as a means of rupturing and reconstructing identities in migration”, in the words of Baily and Collyer (2006).

K'NAAN's path from Mogadishu to the world stage isn't one of leaving Africa behind. It's a story that carries Africa forward, in his voice, in his words, and that he wouldn't let suffering be the only story he has.

In this song the two truths of a diasporic life are captured: the pain of uprooting, as well as the remarkable strength that emerges from it. Loss is not the only part of the African diaspora. It is marked by creativity, survival and the sense of belonging that is shaped, patiently and assertively, wherever African people are in the world. Wavin' Flag waves for all of it.

Listen: K'NAAN — Wavin' Flag: