Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) spoke to Stop Being Famous regarding police brutality and racial injustice in the United States. As one of hip-hop's premiere conscious emcees, Bey's reaction to the events was sure to be thought-provoking, and he didn't disappoint.

“Where are we? We’re at [a] critical time,” he said in the first of two audio lengthy audio commentaries posted to SoundCloud. “We’re at [a] watershed moment for humanity. I imagine we’ve been here before and I imagine that we’ve probably been here for longer than we realize. I think many of us are becoming even more aware of where we are. And the urgency to change this miserable condition on this Earth, as Malcolm X said, is occurring to many of us and reaffirming itself. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It’s an opportunity for necessary change. Positive change. And it’s not necessarily convenient or comfortable. As I’m sure it is with any period of growth.

“I read somewhere that in order for an arrow to fly the bow has to be drawn back with some pressure involved and I think we’re all feeling that pressure. Some of us are more aware of it than others. Some of us are trying to drown it out. But we all feel it one way or another in indelible ways in these times and days.”

Check out both pieces of audio here and here. 

 

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