“Forever is a current event.”

Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) has shared a new song on SoundCloud under the Dec 99th alias. ‘Local Time’ is produced by Ferrari Sheppard and recorded at D Planet Studios, Cape Town.

In the new song, Bey interpolates from Beenie Man’s ‘Romie’ and raps about the impermanence of now. The SoundCloud description states: “The local time is always now. Forever is a current event.”

‘Local Time’ comes after another two Dec 99th uploads to the A Country Called Earth account – which Bey has been using for some time. First was ‘N.A.W’ a month ago, followed by ‘Tall Sleeves’ earlier this month. In every case the alias involves Bey on vocals and Sheppard on production.

In January this year, Bey hit the news after being detained while attempting to leave South Africa, where he had been residing, using a World Passport which was declined by the authorities. He had entered the country on his American passport with a tourist visa. The South African authorities also claimed his wife, mother, and four children had overstayed their sojourn in the country and were given 14 days to leave.

A week later, Bey released a statement via audio message claiming “I’m under unnecessary state supervision and scrutiny, and I have reason to believe or suspect that there are political motivations behind the way I’m being treated, because this is following no reasonable train of logic.”

In the same message, Yasiin Bey also riffs over Kanye West’s ‘No More Parties in L.A’ and announces his retirement from both music and movies with an upcoming final record. Whether or not the Dec 99th project turns out to be the record in question is yet to be clarified.