Mos Def Black on Both Sides

Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) celebrating 'Black on Both Sides' 20th Anniversary with shows

Mos Def‘s landmark solo debut, Black on Both Sides, turns 20 in October and still sounds great, featuring appearances from Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes and his Black Star partner Talib Kweli, and killer production by DJ Premiere, ATCQ’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Diamond D, The Beatnuts’ Psycho Les, 88-Keys and more. If you haven’t given it a spin recently, do that and watch videos for singles “Umi Says” and “Mrs. Fat Booty,” below.

Yasiin Bey, as Mos Def is known today, will celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary with a show NYC’s Brooklyn Steel on November 3 with Camp Lo also on the bill. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, September 13 at 10 AM with an AmEx presale Wednesday (9/11) at noon.

UPDATE: There is also a West Coast show, happening at Berkeley, CA’s Greek Theatre on October 25 with Busta Rhymes, Slick Rick, Erykah Badu, Souls of Mischief and more (tickets).

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Hammer Museum will be hosting a Black on Both Sides listening party on December 13, with a discussion led by UCLA musicology professor Shana Redmond and also featuring Open Mike Eagle, UC Irvine film, media and African Studies professor Sohail Daulatzai, film and TV music supervisor Morgan Rhodes; and DJ Lynnée Denise. That event is free and more info is here.

Yasiin Bey has a few other shows coming up, including appearances at Robert Glasper’s Blue Note residency in NYC in October and Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles in November.