Yasiin Bey Drops More Experimental Music from Cape Town with 'Local Time'

Yes, Yasiin Bey is still in South Africa. Yes, he’s promised his final album and retirement from music and acting are coming soon. Until then, the artist formerly known as Mos Def has been hitting the studio in Cape Town with his longtime friend, confidant and A Country Called Earth co-founder, Ferrari Sheppard.

For the third time in the past month or so, Bey and Sheppard––recording under the name Dec. 99th––have some seriously experimental grooves to share from D Planet Studios, the recording space of D Planet from the Cape Town noise rap outfit DOOKOOM.

“Local Time,” which Sheppard produced, plays like a feel-good manifesto for his and Bey’s pan-continental A Country Called Earth platform: “The local time is now” Bey rap-sings on the track. “Whoever you are, no matter, no how.”

If you recall, “the time is always now” has been on Bey’s lips for a while now. In January 2014 the rapper celebrated the late Muhammad Ali’s 72nd birthday with a surprise concert from an undisclosed location on the continent. The location turned out to be a rooftop in Cape Town. And the performance, titled LIVE FROM AFRICA, was streamed live on Okayafrica. Leading up to the event Bey shared a series of teasers titled “the time is always now.”

Listen to the latest from Dec. 99th below. For more from Bey and Sheppard, check out their previous Dec. 99th tracks "N.A.W." and "Tall Sleeves."

No word on how, if at all, the recent slew of releases relate to Bey's impending last album.