SOMALIA-BORN poet/rapper K'Naan will release his second album, Troubador, in January, according to his website.

Troubador was recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston last year. In an entry from his MySpace page, K'Naan said he got a little help from some famous friends.

"I'm here with Damian and Stephen Marley, my band, and my film-maker friend Kim Chapiron. I can't really talk too much about what's going on, but I can honestly say, it's sincere magic," he wrote.

ABCs is the lead single from Troubador.

Moved to canada

K'Naan was born in Somalia but his family emigrated to Canada. His first album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, was released in 2005 and was produced by Jamaican Jarvis Church, the man behind Nelly Feurtado's Grammy success.

K'Naan is scheduled to perform on two shows with Orthodox Jewish reggae artiste Matisyahu December 16-17 in Toronto and Montreal, respectively.