Yasiin Bey, also known as Mos Def, has issued a statement following his arrest in South Africa.
Bey was arrested last week after reportedly attempting to leave South Africa using a false passport.
The rapper was detained at Cape Town airport on January 14. South African Department of Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said he was trying to depart on an unrecognised ‘world passport’.
Recording of a voice message by Bey was posted on Kanye West’s website overnight. Dubbed ‘No More Parties in SA’, a riff on West’s new track ‘No More Parties In LA’, the freestyle sees him say “I have committed no crime, the state must be out of their mind” among other claims of his innocence.
Currently detained in Cape Town, Bey added that he is retiring from the music and film industry “effective immediately.”
South African media reported at the time of Bey’s arrest that he has been living in South Africa since May 2013, but had overstayed the terms of his visa by mid-2014, and was the subject of a court order to leave. Following the arrest for use of a false passport, the rapper and actor now has 14 days to leave South Africa.