Yasiin Bey | BARRYGRUFF

Yasiin Gaye is the latest project of Amerigo Gazaway, formerly operating under the Gummy Soul guise and the brains behind the Fela Soul mixtape/mashup albums, and one of an elite few who’s done mash ups justice.

Gazaway’s latest project unites rapper Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and soul legend Marvin Gaye for a dream collaboration. Carefully weaving Bey’s dense raps and Gaye’s soulful vocals over his new arrangements, he’s aiming for a quality far closer to Gaye’s famous duets than that of a mere ‘mashup’ album. ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’ is a hugely impressive prelude; taking one part Yasiin Bey in the form of ‘Travellin’ Man’ and one part Marvin Gaye in the form of ‘Innercity Blues’, put them together and you’ve got ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’. This is apparently the first installment of a whole new series called ‘Soul Mates’ and suggests great things for Yasiin Gaye and the broader series on a whole.

Yasiin Gaye is released on February 25th. You can stream or download ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’ below:

Back in ’98, Mos Def and Talib Kweli joined forces to release the classic album Mos Def And Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The illustrious duo of Black Star have come together once again (albeit with Mos Def changing his name to Yasiin Bey) for a new record in honour of Soul legend Aretha Franklin.

The album still doesn’t have a release date but they have graced us with some tasty new jams, ‘Fix It’ & ‘You Already Knew’. Black Star still sound like one of the strongest hip-hop alliances in the world and seem as though they never left us, which bodes well for the new album.

Black Star – You Already Knew via HypeTrak