This was a highly anticipated record because it followed up the 1998 classic, Black Star, in which Yasiin and Talib Kweli established themselves as two of the best, most politically conscious MCs of the late 90s. In 1999, Yasiin Bey (FKA Mos Def) released his debut solo effort, Black on Both Sides. Taking what Black Star did a year earlier, Black on Both Sides is a politically fused hip-hop record that will stand with the greats for years to come. It’s a rare piece, in that the listening experience really is an experience. And when he doesn’t feel like slinging bars he shows off his vocal range on songs like “Umi Says” and “Climb.”īlack on Both Sides is more of an album you need to actually listen to and feel rather than something we can tell you in a review. With these conscious song topics, Bey’s crafty writing stings with truth and creativity, conjuring up a concrete flow with room to experiment. Black on Both Sides makes us think about the things that don’t surface, and it also makes us look at ourselves, as the music flows in and out urging us to search for the truth. Nigga” explains how racism has been constructed into a variation of words and ways to hide the hate (for example: calling Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman a “thug”). “Mathematics” unravels the truth behind America’s prison pipeline, and focuses on how it just doesn’t add up “Rock ‘N’ Roll” focuses on America’s appropriation of black innovations in music “New World Water” shines a light on how politics is in every system where a select few control “the population” and “Mr. Bey takes production from many of hip-hop’s finest and sprinkles rhythmic history and consciousness over toe-tapping rhyming and flow.Ī lot of what makes Black on Both Sides is Bey’s ability to inform the listener. It’s every bit as structured, complex and beautiful as Black Star, but by turning the spotlight solely on Bey, the beats, rhymes and living of this record cultivates strictly from his restoration. A year after, Bey’s debut solo record was released.īlack on Both Sides takes what Black Star started and pushes Yasiin Bey’s premise more.
It was consciously constructed to support the structure of hip-hop, and quite mightily, it set the bar high for politically fused conscious backpack hip-hop. His record with Talib Kweli, Black Star, was one of the most important hip-hop albums of the 90s, with themes that reinforced the culture’s roots of resistance and knowledge. His music career started off in the most fitting way. He is also a man who fights against the oppression towards African-Americans socially and politically both in and outside of his music. This past July, he was in a short film that depicted the force-feeding methods at Guantanamo Bay camps, and the physical and psychological pain that ensues during the process. He later performed this song in front of Radio Music Hall and was arrested, even though he had a public performance permission document. Back in 2005 he wrote “Katrina Clap,” a song that criticized the Bush administration and their handling of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. He’s not just a hip-hop genius mind you he’s a genius, period.Īs a social and political activist, Yasiin Bey has fought hard to reveal the truth from a left-wing perspective. I must get this out of the way right now: Dante Terrell Smith, aka Yasiin Bey, fka Yasiin Bey, is an undeniable genius.
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