Media sources note that the artist formerly known as Mos Def has reportedly been barred from re-entering the U.S. for a concert tour. The reason behind the entry denial, according to a statement on the Boston Together music festival web site, is “immigration/legal issues.”
At this time, it’s not immediately cleared why Yasinn Bey has been barred.
The 40-year-old rapper has been out of the country for the past year as he has found residence in South Africa during that time.
Bey’s denial from entering the US is the latest in a tense relationship between the country and the rapper, who has been critical of the US in recent years. Last July, Bey aligned with the human rights group Reprieve to reenact a force-feeding that was endured by hunger strikers jailed in Guantanamo Bay.
Bey addressed his change of locale in March when he admitted that he had found a peace in South Africa that he couldn’t find in the country he once called home.
“I lived in Brooklyn 33 years of my life. I thought I’d be buried in that place,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “Around seven years ago, I was like, you know, ‘I gotta go, I gotta leave.’ It’s very hard to leave. And I lived in a lot of places. Central America. North America. Europe for a while.
“And I came to Cape Town in 2009, and it just hit me. I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I know when a good vibe gets to you. And, you know, I thought about this place every day from when I left. I was like, ‘I’m comin’ back,’” Bey continued. “For a guy like me, who had five or six generations not just in America but in one town in America, to leave America, things gotta be not so good with America.”
Information from Eurweb.com and Rolling Stone contributed to this report.
