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During a recent livestream on Instagram, the rapper now known as Yasiin Bey appeared to take shots at some participants in a recent rap beef as he freestyled over one of the songs they battled with. Over the instrumental from Metro Boomin’s “Like That” beat, Bey raps, “Greedy, seedy, and creepy/ Corny, horny, and boring/ Bougie, goofy, and moody/ Foolish, ruthless, and clueless/ Variations on a petty Big 3/ A whole lot to look at, but not much to see.”
Did Yasiin Bey/Mos Def smoke this freestyle
:@xavier.dont.exist// IG pic.twitter.com/G0GSCcUpWn
— Mr. SMPS (@Sun900_SMPS) May 22, 2024
The mention of the Big 3 has fans thinking the verse is a disappointed reference to Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar, after repeated mentions of their grouping as a unit on records wound up touching off the battle between them. It was on “Like That” that Kendrick first yelled “motherf*ck the Big 3,” sparking the conflict between them. After J. Cole dropped out of the feud for personal reasons, Drake and Kendrick’s back-and-forth became increasingly noxious to the point that even the fans who egged them on quickly became disgusted with the vitriolic rhetoric.
Did he just diss the whole “big 3”
— Tay Supreme (@2HUNNID6TAY) May 22, 2024
We all know he’s not talking to the big 3 it’s one that he doesn’t like and that DRAKE!!!! lol
— Headkiller007 (@headkiller007) May 22, 2024
None of the old heads seem to be feeling that beef. I was already under the impression it wasn’t going to age well but im even more convinced of that now. https://t.co/zMjDzhCOIv
— Kie kie (@kietotheg) May 22, 2024
It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that Bey was equally disgusted with the beef. Back in 2003, the April 9 episode of Chappelle’s Show featured musical guests Yasiin Bey (then known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli — collectively known as Black Star. The two Brooklyn rappers performed a new song called “What’s Beef.”
Over the course of his verse, Bey decried various high profile rap beefs, contrasting them with more dire current events. He even name-checked the conflict in Gaza, which goes to show how long people have effectively ignored what Bey would consider “real” beef in favor of WWF-style rap antics. “Beef is not what Jay said to Nas,” he said. “Beef is when working folks can’t find jobs / So they try to find n****s to rob / Try to find bigger guns so they can finish the job.” Bey later released a solo version on a mixtape, Mos Definite .
20 years later, it seems his opinions about rap beef he expressed in that verse haven’t changed, even though his name has.
