Yasiin Bey Premieres His First New Solo Project in 5 Years

December 17, 2024 648 85 5

Five years after premiering his Negus album exclusively through multiple sound installations, Yasiin Bey is back with a new project.

Bey premiered the new EP, titled Money Christmas, through a Bandcamp live stream yesterday. The project includes an image of what Bey calls, “Osanta Bin Lyin.” It was created by his friend and collaborator Anuar Khalifi. He’s made the album available for purchase (pre-order) here. As any Yasiin Bey fan already knows, this bad boy’s not coming to streaming services — at least, any time soon. It’s also expected to be released on vinyl in the coming months.

Money Christmas is arriving about three months after his daughter, Laila!, dropped her debut project, Gap Year!, which has gotten plenty of acclaim from fans. Money Christmas is Bey’s first project release of any kind since he and his Black Star running mate, Talib Kweli, unloaded No Fear of Time, their first collaborative album since their 1998 debut, Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star. While fans were happy to get new music, that one was initially released exclusively through the Luminary Podcast network.

Check out the cover to Yasiin Bey’s new EP for yourself below. Pre-order the EP on Bandcamp.