Posted by 
Yasiin Bey, the rapper formerly known as Mos Def, can be a truly electric live performer if you catch him on the right night. It’s just that every night is not the right night. A few months ago, Bey and Talib Kweli announced a tour of the UK and Europe, intended to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their beloved duo Black Star. The tour kicked off at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Tuesday night, and it sounds like things did not go well.
According to Reddit accounts, last night’s Black Star performance started off at 10:20, and the venue had an 11PM curfew. Talib Kweli was reportedly onstage for a while before Yasiin Bey arrived, apparently after almost missing the show because of delayed flight out of Boston. A Redditor says that Bey didn’t apologize, and then he got angry when fans booed.
In a video posted on Reddit, you can hear Bey saying, “What the fuck you so mad about? Is that some sign of approval?… There are no prisoners here. There’s no refund policy. The doors work both ways. Whoever don’t like to be here — I mean, you know, we giving it our best shot. If you having a good time, raise your hands to the sky. If you not having a good time, you have other options.”
According to Setlist.fm, the show ended after 11 songs. Presumably near the end of the show, Bey told the crowd that the group had “delivered” and told them to “just be grateful.”
It’s obviously not a great idea to advise a hostile crowd to be “grateful,” but let’s lay the blame at this one where it belongs: At the feet of Donald Trump and all the pieces of shit who held American air travel hostage during the government shutdown.