Mos Def Clears Up Banned In The USA Rumors, Tells Us Why He Left

Remember last year when everybody kept saying Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey had gotten kicked out of the US and banned from returning to his home country? Despite it seeming pretty plausible at the time, the Brooklyn-born rapper clears up the confusion in an interview he did with Beats by Dre. Mos says that it was his decision to leave the States for greener pastures, and he explains why:

As an artist and as a human being, working in the way that I work in the world today.... It’s really America’s a very challenging place for me. Sure, there’s great business opportunities, familiarity and all that. But given the current social, political, economic climate, it’s very difficult. Unnecessarily difficult. To create to the degree of fullness, the type of robust, type of creativity that I like to have, it’s very difficult for me to produce that here.

Earth is a very big and open place. That doesn't mean I don’t value my family or my audience here in America. It’s just that I needed to take some time to put myself in environments where I felt good.” He goes on to clarify that the circumstances or events weren't just limited to America, that other countries have similar situations which he’s critical of as well.