at 14:45 on November 30, 2009, EDT.
By Nick Patch, THE CANADIAN PRESS


K'naan has released his new video for the remixed version "Wavin' Flag" that will serve as the official song of the FIFA 2010 World Cup. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho


TORONTO - K'naan has released his new video for the remixed version "Wavin' Flag" that will serve as the official song of the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

The Somalia-born, Toronto-raised hip-hop artist has posted a remixed version of the song on his website.

"Wavin' Flag" was originally featured on K'naan's second studio album "Troubadour," which came out earlier this year. The track will be used in television commercials and online to promote the World Cup, which will take place in South Africa next summer.

The new version of the track features revised lyrics with a new focus on soccer, with lines such as: "See the champions take the field now/ Unify us, make us feel proud."

It's a considerably more upbeat tune than "The Time of Our Lives," the sweeping Toni Braxton-Il Divo ballad that was the official song for the 2006 World Cup.

In 2002, Chicago pop singer Anastacia sang the World Cup's official song, "Boom," while hip-swivelling Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin's "La Copa de la Vida" was chosen for the 1998 World Cup in France.

World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola originally announced that K'naan's track had been chosen in September.

It's not first time a Canadian artist has provided a song for a major soccer event.

"Forca," by Victoria, B.C., songstress Nelly Furtado, served as the theme tune for Euro 2004.

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On the Net: http://knaanmusic.ning.co...-world-cup


©The Canadian Press, 2009