Tag: Mos Def Black on Both Sides

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Yasiin Bey Shares a Cognito-Filmed, Directed and Edited Visual for “Priority”

Originally released on Downtown Records back in 2009, a decade after his celebrated and beloved solo debut, Black on Both Sides, Yasiin Bey‘s sophomore album The Ecstatic was widely regarded as his strongest work in years. The album earned near-universal praise for its lyrical breath and eclectic production and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album, anchored around a globe-spanning sound shaped by a collection of visionary producers including Madlib, J. Dilla, Oh No, Preservation, Mr. Flash, The Neptunes‘ Chad Hugo and Georgia Anne Muldrow. The album also featured guest spots from Slick Rick and Talib Kweli.

The acclaimed and beloved emcee recently teamed up with Rhymesayers Entertainment, who will release a re-issue of The Ecstatic on all physical formats on tomorrow, August 14, 2026. This reissue marks the first time Yasiin Bey’s landmark sophomore album has been made available for worldwide distribution in over 15 years. The reissue brings the album’s jazz, soul and Middle Eastern-inspired sound back to the analog format, allowing listeners to experience tracks like “Supermagic,” and the Grammy Award-nominated “Casa Bey” with the warmth and depth the production deserves.

Among the physical format variants of The Ecstatic is a deluxe package pressed on double LP 180-gram black vinyl, and a translucent red 7″ vinyl single featuring the previously unreleased bonus tracks “The Size” and “The Tournament.” The reissue package will also include a 120-page hardcover book, designed and laid out by Frolab featuring photos from legendary filmmaker and photographer Cognito, who documented a two-year span of Yasiin Bey creating and promoting the original 2009 release, along with lyric quotes and some of his handwritten notes from the era. And of course, all vinyl orders will receive instant digital downloads of the full album. Fans are also encouraged to visit CasaBey.com for news and special announcements from Yasiin Bey, as well as The Ecstatic apparel.

The album will also be available through exclusive streaming partner Quboz.

To celebrate the release of the reissue, the acclaimed and beloved emcee shared a new, Cognito-directed video for album track “Priority” featuring never before seen footage of Yasiin behind the scenes in the studio, on the road and more. I turned 30 that year, so looking at this footage of a young Yasiin Bey is very much like looking back into my entire 30s. “After culling images that would eventually make it into the deluxe edition photobook + vinyl, I created a music video for ‘Priority’ too,” Cognito says. ” I used clips pulled from over 70 hours of mini DV footage I captured during those years – from the first studio visit in LA when yasiin was recording the album, to press appearances for the initial release, to out on the road for The Ecstatic Tour across the US and all the way to South Africa.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Mos Def’s “Umi Says”/Black Lives Matter

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms with some brief thoughts on Tyre Nichols’ killing at the hand of Memphis police.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Mos Def/Yasiin Bey

Today is the third day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few days of this month, you’d see that I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience.

Through the month — and throughout the year, I hope that you’ll come to understand and appreciate the following:

Black culture is American culture
Black music is American music.
Black history is American history.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
You can’t love black art and black artists without loving black people.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.

Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) recorded one of the most important and relevant albums of my life, an album I turn to whenever racism and its ugly head rears its head in my life — Black on Both Sides. If you’ve had the chance to get to know me in real life, it wouldn’t be surprising that for the first JOVM DJ set, I ended the set with “Umi Says,” one of my favorite songs off that album. Also, the man in my opinion is one of the greatest living emcees, ever.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Mos Def “Umi Says”/Black Lives Always Matter

I’m going to make a confession here that will seem rather obvious: the last few months I’ve felt especially angry, exhausted and demoralized. I saw another brother gunned down out by the police on TV. There were replays and commentary as if it were like a key play of a big ballgame. Some of the brilliant commentary included demonizing an imperfect human, who may have done stupid and illegal things when he was younger — or asking why he didn’t comply with the cops and a bunch of other insanely dumb things, 

People in the poor bastard’s town protested. Racist lunatics from his state and elsewhere came into town with assault rifles to “protect property and lives” but they were actually fueling more discord and chaos. Worst yet, one of these racist idiots, shot and wounded protestors and the cops let him walk on by, get into his car and leave the state. I’ve seen articles sympathizing with this guy who hurt and killed people instead of  empathizing with the poor bastard’s kids who saw their daddy get shot in the back seven times.

I’m proud of the NBA teams that refused to play games last night. I personally hope that they just shut down the rest of the season. We all need to focus on social justice and getting these people to stop killing us.  

Yet again, it’s necessary to post one of my favorite Mos Def songs, off an album I turn to whenever racism and injustice seems to hurt me to my very core — “Umi Says,” off Black on Both Sides. As the song says in its refrain “I want my Black people to be free. . .” 

All black live smatter. All the time. Every single day. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Mos Def “Umi Says”/Black Lives Matter

With yet another senseless, televised police murder of a black person, I’ve felt angry and exhausted, demoralized and depressed. When will this nightmare end of unnecessary death end? When will we be free of this? 

It just felt necessary to post one of my favorite Mos Def songs, off an album I turn to whenever racism and injustice seems to hurt me to my very core — “Umi Says,” off Black on Both Sides. 

Simply put, I want all my black people to be free. Black lives matter. All the time. Every single day.