Close to The Edge, Back, Middle & Front: Yasiin Bey - "I Don't Like" (Top 40 Underdog & OMFGOD?)

The New Danger (2004), Mos Def's STELLAR Hip-Hop/Blues Rock album recorded with Funky cats from Bad Brains, Living Colour, and a few other pioneering African-American Rock bands... has to be one of my favourite albums of ALL TIME! Dante Smith has always been a stylish, righteous, socially conscious rapper, ever since forming Black Star with like-minded friend-musician, Talib Kweli in the mid-90's. Mos Def recently pulled a "Cat Stevens," whole-heartedly converting to Islam, and changed his name to Yasiin Bey. "I Don't Like" is the third release that's been slow leaked from Top 40 Underdog, Bey's upcoming G.O.O.D. Music flip of Modern Radio staples.

But don't get it twisted, this surely isn't Mos Def's first rodeo; He managed to effortlessly re-work both Jay-Z/Kanye's "The Takeover" and Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" (1982) on The New Danger. Chief Keef, Lil' Wayne, and The Throne 2011-12 favourites have all been brutally stripped and remixed so far for inclusion on Yasiin Bey's controversial Top 40 Underdog project. While he feverishly rallies against damn near everything from "sugar-ass crackers" to haggard stretch marks on "I Don't Like," @ his core Yasiin Bey is just a man ready for change/justice. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for Top 40 Underdog, OMFGOD [Cruel Winter] with Mannie Fresh, and Black Star's long-awaited follow-up album, which should all materialize throughout 2013 A.D.

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