Exclusive: Listen to Yasiin Bey Talk About Forming Black Star in New Audio Series

Yasiin Bey explores his Brooklyn origins and the poetic background of hip-hop in the latest edition of Audible series Words + Music. In conversation with M-1 (or Mutulu Olugbala) of Brooklyn rap duo Dead Prez, Bey’s installment is titled yasiin bey: A Dynamic Career in Communications.

Bey also spends the one-hour and twenty-minute special performing remixes, reworks and new versions of his classics “Priority,” “Revelations” and “Hip Hop,” along with discussing faith and spirituality, his creative inspirations, and more. The edition joins Audible’s Hip-Hop 50 Words + Music rollout, which includes Words + Music: From the Streets, to the Suites by Snoop Dogg and Sheena Lester’s The Greatest Day: The Epic Story Behind Hip-hop's Most Iconic Photograph, both of which premiered in June.

Next on the Words + Music hip-hop lineup are DJ Drama Presents: Gangsta Grillz,Words + Music: Lil Kim (working title), The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip Hop by Clover Hope and Can You Dig It? by Chuck D. The latter two will close out Hip-Hop 50 on August 10, one day ahead of the genre’s 50th anniversary.

Bey is currently supporting Erykah Badu on the Unfollow Me Tour, which continues this month through its conclusion in Dallas on July 23. The 49-year-old rapper and actor last released the long-awaited No Fear of Time as part of Black Star with Talib Kweli in 2022. Originally released to audio-first podcast network Luminary Originals, No Fear of Time is now available to purchase on Bandcamp, a move that Kweli defended on Instagram.

Listen to the exclusive Words + Music clip below.