Despite general mysteriousness, sporadic appearances or legal troubles, Yasiin Bey remains one of the most interesting artists out there. Whenever the multitalented Brooklyn artist unleashes any type of musical or visual project, it's always going to be intriguing to check out and process.
Over the weekend he shared video footage from his surprise appearance with the Canadian jazz group BADBADNOTGOOD, from the Cape Town International Jazz Festival this past April. The video seems to be debuting "Arcade," a new song by Dec 99th, the duo of him and friend Ferrari Sheppard. They have already released other experimental songs over the past few months: "N.A.W.," "Tall Sleeves," and "Local Time."
The performance footage comes months after Yasiin Bey was arrested in Cape Town while trying to leave South Africa with a World Passport. After the arrest, he announced his retirement with a message on Kanye West's web site, claiming that his next album would be his last.
So far, there is no word on the album itself. We don't know if this performance with BADBADNOTGOOD would result with them playing on the album, if Yasiin would go with previous collaborators, or if he plans to ride the wave he has with Ferrari Sheppard. We also don't know if anything else would come before or after the album; Yasiin is unpredictable like that. But no matter what, we know it'll be worth listening to or watching.
To watch Yasiin Bey's performance with BADBADNOTGOOD and learn more about how the performance happened, visit Okayafrica.
