Yasiin Bey (formerly known as (Mos Def )’s daughter Laila! – who is a rising star in her own right – just revealed that the legendary rapper is in fact her father.
During a conversation with Complex published Thursday (August 1), the singer and producer confirmed the longstanding rumors – while also revealing what her dad would say in the earliest days of her music making.
“Yes, he is my dad, y’all. The rumors are true,” she laughed.
“I kind of just always been my own artist in a way, and that’s a cool thing because I feel like as a kid whenever we would jam sesh and vibe out, me and him, I always had my own style, I always had my own thing going on. And he’s always just been like, ‘Okay kid, I see you!’”
Laila confirms Mos Def is her dad 👀 pic.twitter.com/Bb3f69bVMm
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) August 1, 2024
In recent months, the 18-year-old New York native has seen her profile rise with her song “Not My Problem.” While rumors have swirled about her lineage, particularly because of her uncanny resemblance to her father, the newcomer had not yet done any interviews – until the above on her first-ever press run.
Laila! also stopped by Angela Yee’s Power 105.1 radio show and talked more about her upbringing, noting both Bey and her mother (who is also her manager) have always been supportive of her career.
“They’ve always been so supportive of everything that I’ve wanted to do,” she said. “They never question what I want to do. My mom, my dad, you guys have always just been like, ‘Okay, that’s what she’s gonna do. That’s Laila!'”
“And I feel like that’s always made me feel like I can take on the world, or I can show the world who I am because I’ve always had that in my life.”
Yasiin Bey also has five other children, and last year received a judgement demand from the mother of one of them to collect on money from his tour with Erykah Badu.
According to The New York Post, visual artist Karima Sorel won $88,602.63 in a back child support claim from the rapper in 2023, and her attorney said at the time that she will do whatever is necessary to get it satisfied.
“This matter arises out of protracted child support proceedings in Family Court between Karima Sorel . . . and the child’s father,” read the papers. The docs also confirm that Sorel doesn’t have Bey’s current address, and she’s also suing Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Outback Presents LLC and BaduWorld Inc. to get the money judgment enforced.
This isn’t the first time that Bey and Sorel have had issues. Back in March 2020, court documents showed that Bey was ordered to pay Sorel’s attorney fees after it was discovered that Bey consistently refused to pay child support to her.
It’s unclear if all the issues have been worked out.
Yassiin is a deadbeat father. The dude went as far as go to a different country with a fake passport lol 😞 no respect for deadbeats man or woman. They’ll put Wesley Snipes in jail for not paying taxes but not bums like this for not paying child support for a long time. Bay is a bum deadbeat
Mos Def hasn’t taken his shades off in 15 years, wtf happened to him? Is it dust? He does look rather oily. He seems like he got way too deep into something. Similar to Kanye in his type of mysterious weirdness. There’s SOMETHING that turned him out.