Mos Def Says America is a Very Challenging Place for Him to Live In

Beats by Dre got a rare interview with Yasiin Bey (formally known as Mos Def) who revealed why he's not living in the U.S. anymore. Last May Mos had trouble getting back into the states. The Brooklyn rapper revealed that it's hard for him to be creative in the U.S.

“America is a very challenging place for me,” he said. “Sure, there [are] great business opportunities and familiarity and all of that. But given the social, political and economic climate, it is very difficult — unnecessarily difficult — to create to the degree of fullness, the type of robust creativity that I like to have, it’s very difficult for me to produce right here.”

He also opens up about what's going on in his life and his observations of the world in general. Bey is known for his thought-provoking lyrics but he says that he's never wanted to fit under any particular label. In essence, all he's really doing it keeping it real. The 41-year old MC is also in the studio making new music. He dishes on what fans can expect from the new materials, saying people need to take their time with it because it's something completely different.

"Even more than the money, the thing that I'm most focused on is that people take their time to listen to what I have to say," Bey said. "What people are going to hear from me now or in the future is much different than what they heard in 1999 or even heard in 2009. But the theme and the tones have to have some dynamic nature to it because I'm different, the time's are different, my skill level is different. It's more enhanced because I've had so much time and opportunity to do it and get better at it. I'm more interested [in] what I can discover and what the audience can discover as a result of spending time with me."

Toward the end of the clip, Yasiin Bey mentions a track that he played for Kanye that Yeezy seemed to appreciate. Hopefully this is something that drops sometime soon. Check out the four minute interview above.

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