As someone who has a residence in Paris, and is a practicing Muslim, you would be hard pressed to find an artist in the mainstream music world that has as much of a connection to the tragedies that occurred over the weekend than Yasiin Bey. Also known as Mos Def, the rapper has long been outspoken of his (always incredibly insightful) opinions, and once again he has put forth some wisdom and shared light on the matter.
Participating in a 20 minute interview, Bey opened up on his unique viewpoint on the matter, and discussed some uncomfortable truths that we should all be discussing. From calling out terrorist group ISIS and their supposed faith, saying, “And, by the way, a big giant ‘Fuck off’ to ISIS.’ You don’t represent nothing about Islam or nothing about the prophet. And another giant ‘Fuck off’ to everybody trying to say ’see, this is Islam’s fault,'” to providing a rather profound yet simplistic take on the world saying, “That’s the measure of a civilisation—not how well you agree, but how well you disagree. That’s civilised,” Bey once again showed he is absolutely one of the more intelligent activists we have.
It didn’t stop there, though. Yasiin Bey also released a new song to go along with the interview which discusses a lot of the themes he was discussing. Titled NO Colonial Fiction, he gets straight to the point with this track. No messing around or beating around the bush, Bey delivers his message eloquently and powerfully.
You can listen to both the interview here and check the track below.