FIVE
Kenna’s Dilemma: The Right — and Wrong — Way to
Ask People What They Want
The rock musician known as Kenna grew up in Virginia Beach,
the child of Ethiopian immigrants. His father got his degree
from Cambridge University and was an economics professor. As
a family, they watched Peter Jennings and CNN, and if music
was played, it was Kenny Rogers. “My father loves Kenny
Rogers because he had a message to tell in that song ‘The
Gambler,’ ” Kenna explains. “Everything was about learning
lessons and money and how the world worked. My parents
wanted me to do better than they did.” Occasionally, Kenna’s
uncle would visit and expose Kenna to different things, such as
disco or dancing or Michael Jackson. And Kenna would look at
him and say, “I don’t understand.” Kenna’s main interest was
skateboarding. He built a ramp in the backyard, and he would
play with a boy from across the street. Then one day his
neighbor showed him his bedroom, and on the walls were
pictures of bands Kenna had never heard of. The boy gave
Kenna a tape of U2’s The Joshua Tree. “I destroyed that tape, I