Mos Def breaks silence with song as he awaits justice
HIS unrecognised “world passport” and the trouble it has caused him in South Africa are all anyone talks about, but US rapper Yasiin Bey has his mind on something more important: his multifaceted artistic pursuits, including a new album.
Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, has finished an album and accompanying “visuals” which he plans to release at an art gallery, said Ferrari Sheppard, a cultural critic and artist from Chicago who is one of Bey’s many collaborators.
“He’s just fine. He’s surrounded by family, loved ones,” said Sheppard.
Bey and Sheppard run an artistic platform called A Country Called Earth. Two weeks ago, they jointly released a song, N.A.W., under the moniker Dec 99th.
They have contacted Cape Town galleries but may move the album release abroad depending on the outcome of Bey’s court case, said Sheppard.
Bey, who is not giving interviews, has been charged with contravening immigration laws by trying to use a “world passport” to leave South Africa in January.
He is also charged with helping his family illegally stay in South Africa after their visitor visas expired in 2014. The Sunday Times could not reach the family for comment.
The artist was in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, when his case was postponed to the monthend.
“World passports” are issued by a Washington, DCbased group called the World Service Authority, which says it derives its mandate from “the fundamental human right of freedom of movement”. Bey has not let his legal difficulties interfere with his creative ventures, including a foray into the realm of fashion.
In February he signed on as creative director for Unknown Union, a Cape Town company that creates streetwear using traditional African fabrics.
Bey, who has been creating “non-Western silhouettes” for the company and modelling its clothing, is a “creative force to be reckoned with”, said Unknown Union founder Jason Storey.