The album was played as an art installation during the event.

Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, reportedly debuted a new album during this year's Art Basel Hong Kong. Titled Negus, news of the album's release at the annual event came from Steven Julien, better known as producer FunkinEven, who shared a tweet about the project.

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The tweet informs readers that Bey's album is "presented as a sound installation" and "is unavailable for purchase via digital or physical platforms." The tweet also notes that Negus was produced in 2015 and features eight tracks, with production handled by FunkinEven, Lord Tusk, and ACyde.

A New York-based writer who was in attendance for the event elaborated further on why Bey decided to release the project this way.

"Yasiin Bey is very aware of society's inability to focus on anything because of technology," she wrote. "Bey told us he wanted us to be present in the moment and focus on the songs..."

According to the writer, Bey was present and taking pictures of people listening to the album on headphones. The pictures were then available for purchase as a souvenir, which some people purchased and shared on their Instagram accounts as noted by Uproxx.

Negus seems to be the album Bey first announced back in December 2016. At that time, the rapper had revealed he had two albums in the works — Negus in Natural Person and As Promised.