Yasiin Bey Freestyles Over “Like That” Beat and Talks 'Petty Big 3'

The rapper formerly known as Mos Def walked back his comments about Drake earlier this year after saying his "music is compatible with shopping."

May 23, 2024

A man in a hat and dark, layered clothing performs on stage, holding a microphone — Getty Images: Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP

Even after the dust has settled on Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud, Yasiin Bey is entering the ring with his own freestyle over Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” beat.

In an undated clip circulating on social media, the 50-year-old formerly known as Mos Def is seen spitting bars over the very track that ignited the rap war of 2024. Per a YouTube upload of the freestyle, Bey appeared to have streamed the freestyle through past collaborator Anuar Khalifa’s Instagram account.

At one point, the Black Star veteran 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."

"Like That" featured Kendrick Lamar responding to Drake and J. Cole's "First Person Shooter" by declaring "motherfuck the Big 3, n***a, it's just big me." The track still sits at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, having peaked at No. 1 and lasted for eight weeks and counting. Kendrick also just hit No. 1 solo with his Drake diss "Not Like Us."

Yasiin Bey accidentally found himself in some hot water with Drizzy, 37, last December. During an appearance on the Cutting Room Floor podcast, the veteran rapper told host Recho Omondi that Drake is “pop” to him.

"In the sense, like, if I was in Target in Houston and I heard a Drake song...it feels like a lot of his music is compatible with shopping…or, you know, shopping with an edge in certain instances," the Black Star member said.

At the time, he also predicted that the collapse of Drake’s career was forthcoming, saying, "What happens when this thing collapses? What happens when the columns start buckling? Are we not in some early stage of that at this present hour? Are we seeing the collapse of an empire?" (Seriously, is he psychic?)

After endless social media discourse and Drake issuing his own responses, Bey walked back his comments in January with a nearly 26-minute video on his Instagram account telling Drake that he doesn’t “hate” anyone.

"My opinion is mine. It’s legal in all states, as far as I’m aware. It was not an opportunity to try to slander him, or to clown on him. I have reached out to him, I have no responses yet,” Bey said on his IG. “I’m not keen to talk about people or to them through a screen, I prefer to talk to people directly. But I will say this. The young man is very talented, he’s been able to be very successful with that talent, and I have no issue with his success or anything that he's been able to achieve as a result of his talent."