Yasiin Bey is a legend within hip-hop, and his decades of experience, knowledge, activism, social consciousness, and skill elevates his standards quite a lot. Moreover, he recently sat down with The Cutting Room Floor and, at one point, was asked by the program's host whether Drake is hip-hop. Well, you tell me: do you think that the man behind Black Star and Black on Both Sides is a massive fan of the 6ix God? While Bey, formerly and best known as Mos Def, didn't really diss him here, he did point to the commercial, agreeable, and non-remarkable nature of the game that Drizzy represents, for better or worse.
"Like, is Drake hip-hop?" host Recho asked the MC formerly known as Mos Def. "Why are you doing this to me?" Yasiin Bey replied, and you can tell throughout the whole segment, with some laughs in between, that he's trying not to go full scorched Earth and be as clear as possible. "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, as you know, shopping with an edge in certain instances.
Yasiin Bey Speaks On Drake: Watch
"Of course, I get it," Yasiin Bey continued about Drake. "It's likable. It's likable... 'Wooooo! So many products! So many SKUs! Look at all these SKUs (stock-keeping units, more commonly known as bar codes)! Oh, so many products. I love this mall! Look at this place. I mean, look at this place! They have everything, everything's here! They have everything here! Oh, this is great. This is the new Drake, do you hear it? It's great...'
"Okay. What happens when this thing collapses?" he concluded. "What happens when the columns start buckling? Are we not in some early stage of that at this present hour? Are we seeing, like, the collapse of an empire? Buying and selling, where's the message that I can use? You know, what's in it for your audience apart from, like, banging the pom-poms?" For more news and the latest updates on Drake and Yasiin Bey, stay up to date on HNHH.