Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, has a new album with The Alchemist on the way called Forensics, but that doesn’t mean he’s still playing the game.
The Brooklyn MC and actor sat down with The Guardian during Paris Fashion Week to talk about his latest project and the state of the music industry as it has to do with streaming.
“I was so disillusioned,” Bey told the outlet when looking back at when he first started. “You start out with idealism and passion, and then you encounter the kind of conduct and values George Orwell called ‘inanities’. And they do this sh– to everybody, it’s not even personal, it’s systemic.”
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The convo then shifted to music streaming companies, where he lamented about the current pay model. “That sh– is gross, paying people part of a penny for their music,” he said. Those motherf—ers are cold blooded, man, like Scrooge McDuck, lickin’ his lips as he jumps into a pool of gold coins.”
Adding, “The music industry of now makes the one I started out in seem charitable. It’s completely exploitative.”
There’s no release date yet for Forensics, but it’s expected to drop sometime in the spring. For now, you can head over to Bandcamp to purchase a lanyard or a hat that feature a BUMP tag where fans can access the album and special benefits with their smartphone via blockchain.
The description of the tech and special features reads as follows: “BUMP technology allows purchasers to ‘bump’ their smartphone on the sewn-in tag, taking them to a private website where they can input blockchain registered ownership details and access additional content and benefits. Initially, this will include the album art and one of the audio tracks from the FORENSICS album. Later, it will include live-stream replay, other exclusive content, discounted merchandise offers, and ultimately, discounted access to the full Forensics project for digital replay upon its official release. Additional content will be added periodically up to and beyond the release of the full Forensics project.”
Yasiin described the release strategy as, “lo-fi, hi-tech high art.”
