"Is Anybody Out There?" K'naan ft. Nelly Furtado

Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan rose to prominence in the summer of 2010 when Coca-Cola chose his inspirational anthem "Wavin' Flag" as their official theme song for the World Cup. Now he's back with "Is Anybody Out There?," a decidedly less inspiring anthem from his new EP, More Beautiful Than Silence. Kicking off with a twinkling piano hook and a sickly-sweet chorus sung by fellow Canuck pop star Nelly Furtado, the song hits all the wrong notes—it's limp, cloying, and too cheesy by half. The introduction of a hard-hitting drum machine loop during the first verse gives it a bit of grit, but that can't overcome K'naan's weak lyrics and even weaker delivery, both of which feel sort of amateur. Worst of all, it's so plainly obvious how hard "Anybody" is trying to uplift it audience (there is actually a line that goes "Baby girl, this your anthem"). That level of overly calculated effort reeks of desperation, and can make even the most well-intentioned of songs seem hollow and hackneyed. C-