Yasiin Bey, known to many as Mos Def, recently released a video for “Niggas in Poorest,” a track from his Top 40 Underdog series released last month. Top 40 Underdog project is a series of reinterpreted hits.

Bey released the video in commemoration of the 47th anniversary of Malcolm X’s death. The video shines light on the political and socioeconomic crisis occurring around the globe.



Bey’s lyrics are no less controversial as he speaks of themes contributing to the urban plight

He raps, “Ball so hard, who getting faded? Little Maurice in the sixth grade. No mama, no father, role model the dope game.”

During this rhyme, a clip of a young black boy using drugs flashes across the screen.

There is an interlude featuring Malcolm X in the song. The video displays a clip of Malcolm X saying, “I don’t worry. I tell you, I am a man who believed that I died 20 years ago. 
And I live like a man who is dead already. I have no fear whatsoever of anybody or anything.”

In an interview with MTV2’s Sucker Free, Yasiin Bey informed fans he was retiring his name “Mos Def”.

“I’m retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I’m actually doing it. Yasiin. That’s it,” said Bey. “Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it’s a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I’ve done quite a bit with that name and it’s time to expand and move on. Also, I didn’t want to have to deal with having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as.”

The “Niggas in Poorest” video is sure to stir debate and discussion. Watch vid below.