Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) Takes Shots Are Materialism in Hip Hop with ‘N–gas In Poorest’

The artist former known as Mos Def is back at it again.

Yesterday, I watched the Mighty Mos Def’s Yasiin Bey’s video ‘N–gas in Poorest’ and found myself nodding my head in agreement. Bey remixes his buddies’ Kanye West and Jay-Z’s hit, “N–gas in Paris” and adds his own more conscious, thought-provoking tone.

The video uses clips of Malcolm X speaking and implores hip hop heads to take a look at the hypocrisy within the culture. While many of its fans are poor and struggling, many of hip hop’s stars celebrates hyper-materialism. In the song, Yasiin also takes on issues such as drug use, health care, and diet.

While this isn’t the first time Yasiin has remixed a popular song to send a much-needed message (he flipped Jay-Z’s ‘The Takeover’ and called it ‘The Rape Over’), it’ll be interesting to see how his hip hop brethren respond to this one.

But as I posted on my Facebook page yesterday, Mos be making a sista want to start a riot.

Listen to Yassiin Bey’s ‘N–gas in Poorest’ and let us know what you think!