Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star bring the noise to London

Source: echolot

Laaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwd, lawdamercy! Talib Kweli and, vegetarian bad *ss Yasiin Bey's, Black Star is coming to London this weekend and I can hardly contain myself. I've had classic tunes like 'Definition' and 'Brown Skin Lady' on rotation for the original Black Star album dropped back in 1998. Musically both have done amazing things a solo artists, but in Bey's journey through Islam, Hollywood, Broadway and political debate he's always kept it real. He's used his voice to push for more awareness on injustice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, racism in the American criminal justice system and forced feeding in Guantanamo Bay.

This level of activism is not unusual for hip hop's vegans and vegetarians - consciousness and plant based diets seem to go hand in hand. The Roots, Stic.Man of Deadprez, Russell Simmons, Saul Williams, KRS-One, Q-Tip, Andre 3000, RZA, GZA, and Masta Killa, all get down with beats and beets, as well as bringing righteousness to their lyrics and their communities.

Aside from being in the presence of such a right on MC, I am of course looking forward to the music.  So, for your listening pleasure, here's a little soundcloud playlist featuring some of the newer tracks, remixes and collabs from Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def.

Got Gitmo? Yasiin Bey undergoes Guantanamo's Standard Operating Procedure Forced Feeding

Source: Pitchfork

One of the responses I sometimes get when I tell people that I'm vegetarian, is a quasi-defensive 'well I'm much more concerned with human rights' response. As if the two are mutually exclusive. As if  factory farming practices and the distribution of mystery meat to the general population have nothing to do with the human condition. Coretta Scott King, Dick Gregory, Al Sharpton, Rosa Parks, Ghandi, Cesar Chavez, Susan B Anthony. All vegetarian. All human rights campaigners. All making a link between how we treat each other and how we treat other creatures. Which brings me swiftly to Mr Yasiin Bey.

Better known as Mos Def, the rapper, writer, pundit, actor, vegetarian and absolute legend, recently visited London to make a different kind of video. He worked with director, Asif Kapadia, and human rights group Reprieve to highlight the plight of more than 100 detainees currently on hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay, 45 of whom are being force fed against their will, by personally undergoing what is called the 'Standard Operating Procedure'.  And if you're envisaging someone looking menacing with a spoon think again. 

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