Yasiin Bey has been called a hypocrite by Drake fans for performing at Paris Fashion Week, just days after criticizing the Canadian superstar’s music and artistic intentions.
Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, delivered a one-man performance at fashion designer Wales Bonner’s Fall/Winter 2024 show in the French capital on Wednesday (January 17) while the models strutted the catwalk.
Bey performed his classic song “Mathematics,” as well as a new track described in the show’s pamphlet as an “original work” created with producer Rashad “Ringo” Smith and “inspired by the evolution of cosmic and conscious expression.”
The show, while attended by stars such as Solange and Lewis Hamilton, didn’t win over any Drake fans who used the performance as ammo against the Black Star MC following his criticism of the 6 God.
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“All that trashing @champagnepapi to be at a fashion show lazily performing music that’s conducive with shopping. Man, Mos gotta let that hate go,” one social media user commented.
Another said: “Doing all that woke talk just to turn around and perform for the elites at fashion shows,” while someone else remarked: “This was NOT the clip that needed to drop after that sound bite.”
Bey did have his defenders, though, with one saying: “I didn’t realize Drake fans were this active online, y’all gotta understand that Mos Def was talking about intention.”
Yasiin Bey’s comments about Drake came during an interview with The Cutting Room Floor last week, where he said: “Drake is pop to me. In the sense like, if I was in Target in Houston and I heard a Drake song, it feels like a lot of his music is compatible with shopping. Or shopping with an edge, in certain instances.”
Despite praising Drizzy’s music “likeable,” Bey joked that his songs are an ideal backdrop for commerce.
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“I love this mall!” he laughingly exclaimed. “They have everything here. This is the new Drake — you hear it?”
Turning serious, the Brooklyn native suggested that music designed to promote commerce may soon start to lose its luster: “Are we not in some early stage of that at this present hour? Buying and selling — where’s the message that I can use? What’s in it for your audience?”
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Drake himself responded to the remarks earlier this week by posting an old interview clip of Method Man on Instagramm while writing: “What umi say again? Lemme shine my light king don’t change up now,” referencing Bey’s classic song “Umi Says.”
The clip of the Wu-Tang Clan legend sees him say: “Hip Hop is a culture. It’s a way of life, the way you dress, the way you talk, the way you walk. It’s the breakdancing, rhymes, stage show, DJ, mixing and scratching, the wordplay. That’s Hip Hop.”
