Yasiin Bey, the rapper formerly known as Mos Def, reportedly arrived one hour and 25 minutes late to a Black Star reunion show in London last night, November 11. Bey and fellow Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli are on a collaborative tour of Europe to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their duo, Black Star. The tour began last night at London’s Brixton Academy.

According to disgruntled fans on Reddit, the duo’s DJ appeared on stage alone, 30 minutes after the scheduled start time, and started DJ’ing as everyone awaited news of Bey’s arrival. The duo eventually came on stage at 10:20pm, 85 minutes after the scheduled start time, greeted by cheers and boos from the audience.

“What the fuck is all that about huh? Is that a sign of approval or are y’all hostile?” Bey said, in reply to the crowd’s hostility. After another volley of cheers and boos, Bey said, “You know, there’s no prisoners here, there’s also a ‘no refund’ policy. The doors work both ways.” This was met with more booing.

Mos Def response to booing at London show
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Bey tried to do more crowd work, asking if the crowd was having a good time, but followed that question with, “if you’re not having a good time, you have other options.” Kweli attempted to jump in and defuse the situation, but a disgruntled Bey taunted the crowd saying, “you don’t have to put up with these shenanigans!”

Yasiin Bey tells audience “No Refunds”
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The duo went on to perform only 11 songs, eventually bringing out rapper Common as a special guest. The show ended promptly at 11:20pm with no encore. Many fans reported leaving the show early in order to catch the train, and that production shut the show down quickly because it had gone past the 11pm curfew. Tickets allegedly cost between £50-£100 (~$65-$131 USD) for the concert.

Black Star brought out Common in London Show
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Bey and Kweli founded Black Star in 1996 and released their critically acclaimed album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, in 1998. The duo reunited in 2022 to release their second album, No Fear of Time. The pair is on tour celebrating the group’s 30th anniversary with two more shows in England later this week.