In January 2002, Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in October 2004. Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie. Fat Booty" charted, while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200. Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999, also through Rawkus. Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the singles "Respiration" and "Definition", which both reached in the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.ġ999–2006: Solo career and various projects The duo released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, in 1998. Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli. In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal Magnetic" in 1997. The album features a compilation of previously unreleased and re-released tracks recorded during the original UTD run. In 2004, they released the album Manifest Destiny, their first and only release to date. Mos Def began his music career in 1994, forming the group UTD (or Urban Thermo Dynamics) along with younger brother DCQ and younger sister Ces. Bey, who later adopted the alias DCQ, was described by Smith as "my first partner in hip hop".ġ994–1998: Beginnings with Rawkus and Black Star In a particularly traumatic childhood experience, Mos Def witnessed his then five-year-old younger brother Ilias Bey (b. Growing up in New York City during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s, he has spoken about witnessing widespread instances of gang violence, theft and poverty in society, which he largely avoided by working on plays, Off-Off-Broadway and arts programs. After returning from filming You Take the Kids in Los Angeles, and getting into a relationship with an older girl, Mos Def dropped out of high school during sophomore year. Mos Def attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he picked up his love for acting. He is close friends with fellow Muslim rappers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. His father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later followed Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation of Islam. The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey. Mos Def was born as Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman. Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism, and the state of African-Americans. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 20. Since the early 2000s, Mos Def has appeared in films such as Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job, The Woodsman, Bamboozled and Brown Sugar, as well as for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the Showtime drama series Dexter. Prior to his career in music, Mos Def entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television films, sitcoms, and theater. The editors at listed him as the 14th greatest emcee of all time on their "50 greatest MC's of our time" list. His debut was followed by The New Danger(2004), True Magic (2006) and The Ecstatic (2009). He was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides. He subsequently formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and they released their eponymous debut album in 1998. Best known for his music, Mos Def began his hip hop career in 1994, alongside his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. Yasiin Bey ( born Dante Terrell Smith December 11, 1973), better known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, actor, songwriter, record producer, and activist.
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