Yasiin Bey and collaborator Ferrari Sheppard came through today with their newest track, "Hymn," under the banner of their newly formed moniker, Dec. 99th.
The song off with Bey dropping drawled out, poetic bars over an even slower beat that is only kept up in tempo by a perpetual light-tapped kick of percussion. "This is what death can't kill: life," Bey repeats over the track's downtrodden, slow-churning bass line.
The artist also had a succinct message when it came to explaining the track. "Condolences to the families of the slain. Never stop pursuing freedom," Bey said in a press release for the song that premiered exclusively on Tidal Monday but is thankfully available to stream to anyone, even if you don't have a Tidal membership.
"Hymn" arrives as the fourth release in association with the Dec. 99th name, following the previously released "Dec 99th - N.A.W," which was followed up by "Dec 99th - Tall Sleeves" and later "Dec. 99th - Local Time." However, those songs included the date as the prefix while this latest installment lists it as the artist name, which could mean that we will be seeing a lot more music from the pair as an official team.
Unfortunately, Bey has been dealing with legal issues throughout 2016 after being arrested by South African officials in January for attempting to leave the country and for illegally helping his family stay in the country. He later connected with Kanye West over the phone to record a freestyle explaining the event and announce that he was retiring from music, but his releases since that date seem to prove that he might not be done with music just yet. Listen to "Hymn" below.
