It seems like the run of another legend is coming to a close. Following his statement on Kanye West’s website back in January, the acclaimed emcee Yasiin Bey, who you may know better as his former self Mos Def, has confirmed that he is in fact still retiring this year.
Bey has spent most of 2016 in South Africa after he was charged with using a false travel document (the world passport) to leave the country. Despite being out on bail, a new Facebook Live video has seen Bey cancel his upcoming performances, explaining that he is unable to go abroad “due to circumstances beyond [his] control.”
He didn’t end it there though, going on to say that he is in fact “retiring for real this year”, yet still maintained his appreciation to his fans. “I’m grateful to have had the career that I’ve been able to enjoy. As I say to many people… my brother and sisters, thank you for spending your money and more importantly your time.”
He’s not entirely done just yet. He still has two film “commitments” to complete, and musically he explained that some “exclusive new material” will be released for Jay Z’s TIDAL streaming platform, and that his final show will be live streamed from Cape Town.
Fear not, this won’t be the last you ever hear of him. “Apart from that, I’m moving onto other things, still being creative,” he said. “Definitely fashion, textiles and just art. Whatever I can create that’s beautiful and useful, that’s what I wanna do.”
Unfortunately this Facebook Live video was later deleted. So while Brooklyn’s acclaimed ‘Travellin’ Man’ may be moving through places, he’s not going to completely disappear just yet.
Image: RODGER BOSCH/AFP/Getty Images