Much respect to the boogie man himself Black Dante AKA Mos Def AKA YASIIN BEY for coming back w/ us for another great night at The Yost, this time on the date of the release of his classic record “Black on Both Sides” . good times and good vibes. Check out some badass pics by Steady Jenny (SteadyJenny.com ) much love to Ughhblog.com also!
“Yasiin Bey is one of my All Time Favorite Hip Hop artists right up there with Immoratal Technique and KRS One.
I was priviledged enough to shoot him for a second time (check out shots from last year on my page), and I did not say anything last year but I’m going to make a note this time and say that this guy is REALLY picky about allowing ONLY RED LIGHTS during his entire performance.
For those of you familiar with the color spectrum and light waves, red is THEE most unflattering & difficult color to put on someones face and is a BIG no no in photo, and the fact that he has dark skin in a pitch black atmosphere makes it even harder for the camera to differentiate him from the background, resulting in dark, severely underexposed, grainy, blurry shots.
I’m taking the time to point this out because I want to be clear that I do not feel this is an accurate reflection of my best work, and it breaks my heart because he IS one of my all time favorites, I always strive to reflect my best work in my shots and it simply cannot happen with his specific lighting request. On top of it all, Facebook severely compresses files so when it comes down to it you’re not seeing the true potential of these shots. Just keep it in mind!
I’m not sure if he is just trying to set the vibe, if he knows it will be difficult to shoot and he doesn’t want shots of him, or what, but it hurts my heart just knowing that The Yost Theaterhas a great lighting system that I would have LOVED to see that night (I often shoot at the Yost, for examples of their awesome lighting peep my other albums)!
*****So do me a favor: When you peep these, think FILM. I shot & edited these with an analogue feel to help embrace the limited and challenging lighting, and also to commemorate a debut album that is 15 years old. The grain, the soft focus, the varied outcome, it all embraces my nostalgia of an analogue world…
I am so grateful for the second opportunity and I accepted the challenge!
Shoutout to Drew ID with The 4th Letter & Speach Impediments for lookin’ out on this one & DJ Great Daine for the shoutout during his set!
Holla to the other artists who performed, tag yo’selves!
CREDIT A SISTA
Mad Love ♥ Stay Up
PS Rappers sound better when they smile! 
Mos Def Official ”
-Steady Jenny
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