Mos Def

Mos Def
Yasiin Bey (born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), more commonly known by his former stage name Mos Def, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor.
He launched his hip hop career in 1994, joining his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD) and on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. In 1996, he and fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli formed Black Star, whose debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star featured the singles "Definition" and "Respiration". He released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides in 1999, then The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006), and The Ecstatic (2009). His hits include "Oh No", "Ms. Fat Booty", and "Mathematics". In 2014, About.com listed him 14th on its "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time".
A former child actor in television films, sitcoms, and theater, Bey has appeared in the films 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 and in television series such as Dexter and House. He hosted Def Poetry Jam from 2002 to 2007.
Bey has spoken out on several social and political causes, including police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the status of African Americans.
Early life
Yasiin Bey was born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman Smith. The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey.
His father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later followed Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into the mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation of Islam. Bey was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. He is close friends with fellow Muslim hip-hop artists Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip.
Bey attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where he developed his love for acting. After returning from filming You Take the Kids in Los Angeles, and getting into a relationship with an older girl, Bey dropped out of high school during sophomore year. 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. In a particularly traumatic childhood experience, Bey witnessed his then five-year-old younger brother, Ilias Bey (born Denard Smith), get hit by a car. Ilias later adopted the alias DCQ and was described by Bey as "my first partner in hip hop".
Music career
1994–1998: Beginnings with Rawkus and Black Star
Bey began his music career in 1994, forming the group UTD (or Urban Thermo Dynamics) along with younger brother DCQ and high-school friend Ces. In 2004, they released the album Manifest Destiny, their first and only release to date. The album features a compilation of previously unreleased and re-released tracks recorded during the original UTD run.
In 1996, Bey 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.
Bey signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli. The duo released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, in 1998. 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.
1999–2006: Solo career and various projects
Bey released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999, also through Rawkus. The single "Ms. Fat Booty" charted, while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200. Around this time, he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie.
In January 2002, Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in October 2004. It included contributions by Shuggie Otis and Bernie Worrell, Doug Wimbish, and Will Calhoun as the Black Jack Johnson Band. The album reached #5 on the Billboard 200, making it the most successful for the artist to date. The single "Sex, Love & Money" charted, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records, titled True Magic, was released in 2006.
2007–2011: Good Music era and name change
On November 7, 2007, Bey performed live in San Francisco at The Mezzanine venue. The performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. During the event, he announced that he would be releasing a new album to be called The Ecstatic. He performed a number of new tracks; in later shows, he previewed tracks produced by Madlib and was rumored to be going to Kanye West for new material. Producer and fellow Def Poet Al Be Back revealed he would be producing on the album as well. The album was released on June 9, 2009; but only Madlib's production had made the cut, along with tracks by Preservation, The Neptunes, Mr. Flash, Madlib's brother Oh No, J. Dilla, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Bey appears alongside Kanye West on the track "Two Words" from The College Dropout album, the track "Drunk and Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off West's third major album, Graduation. In 2002, he released the 12" single Fine, which was featured in the Brown Sugar Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Bey also appears on the debut album from fellow New Yorkers Apollo Heights on a track titled, Concern. In October, he signed a deal with Downtown Records and appeared on a remix to the song D.A.N.C.E. by Justice. He appeared on Stephen Marley's debut album Mind Control on the song "Hey Baby". In 2009, he worked with Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan to produce the track "America" for K'naan's album Troubadour.
In April 2008, he appeared on the title track for a new album by The Roots titled Rising Down. The new single, Life In Marvelous Times, was made officially available through iTunes on November 4, 2008, and was also available for stream on the Roots' website Okayplayer.
In April 2009, Bey traveled to South Africa for the first time, and performed with The Robert Glasper Experiment at the renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival. He treated the South African audience with an encore, introduced by his own rendition of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, followed by a sneak preview of the track "M.D. (Doctor)".
Bey has designed two pairs of limited edition Converse shoes. The shoes were released through Foot Locker stores on August 1, 2009, in limited amounts.
In late 2009, he created his own clothing line with the "UNDRCRWN" brand called the "Mos Def Cut & Sew Collection". The items were released in select U.S. stores and almost exclusively on the UNDRCRWN website. That year, he was among the MCs aligned with American entrepreneur Damon Dash's DD172 and collaborating with American blues rock band the Black Keys on the Blakroc album, a project headed by the Black Keys and Damon Dash. Bey appeared with Harlem-bred rapper Jim Jones and the Black Keys on the Late Show with David Letterman to perform the Blakroc track "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)".
In March 2010, Bey's song "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" was featured in Palm's "Life moves fast. Don't miss a thing." campaign.
Bey features on the first single, "Stylo", from the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, alongside soul legend Bobby Womack. He also appears on the track titled "Sweepstakes".
In September 2010, after appearing on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Friday track "Lord Lord Lord", Bey confirmed he had signed with GOOD Music. Bey has been an active contributor to the recovery of the oil spill in the Gulf, performing concerts and raising money towards repairing its damages. In June 2010, he recorded a cover of the classic New Orleans song originally by Smokey Johnson, "It Ain't My Fault" with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty.
In September 2011, the rapper announced that he legally changed his name to Yasiin Bey and would go by that name, retiring his Mos Def moniker. Bey told a reporter "I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I’ve been going by Yasiin since ’99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly." Bey also stated "Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name. ...it's time to expand and move on." Yasiin is a name in the Qur'an's 36th surah and was important to the rapper who converted to Islam in his teens. Bey said the name change would eliminate "having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as."
Shortly after the name change announcement, Bey recorded as the narrator of the children's hip hop musical, Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature.
2012–present: Later career and retirement
In January 2012, it was reported that Bey and Talib Kweli had begun "to resurrect" Black Star. In 2015, Bey was featured on A$AP Rocky's second studio album At. Long. Last. ASAP, on the track "Back Home", alongside Acyde and the deceased A$AP Yams. Bey again revived his Mos Def moniker for two new songs in August 2015, titled "Basquiat Ghostwriter" and "Sensei on the Block", respectively.
On January 19, 2016, Bey announced his retirement from both the music and film industries on Kanye West's website: "I'm retiring from the music recording industry as it is currently assembled today, and also Hollywood, effective immediately. I'm releasing my final album this year, and that's that." After announcing his retirement, he expressed gratitude to everyone who has supported him over the years and revealed his intention to enter the fashion industry and complete a handful of films. Bey also confirmed he still planned to release a collaborative project with Ferrari Sheppard called Dec 99th.
In October 2016, a planned concert in London was cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed on the artist; other European dates suffered the same fate. On October 14, Bey posted a video to Facebook where he announced that he was still planning to retire: "I'm retiring for real this year, this week. With the 17th anniversary of Black on Both Sides being released, I am grateful to have had the career that I have been able to enjoy." He also announced one last concert which he said he would be live streaming from Cape Town, South Africa. In November 2016, he was granted the ability to leave but not reenter South Africa and was put on "South Africa's 'undesirable persons' list". He said he would perform one show in Harlem and three in Washington D.C. after leaving South Africa. He announced that Dec 99th, his final album, would be released on December 9. He released three singles from it, "Local Time", "N.A.W." and "Seaside Panic Room". On December 5, 2016, he announced the title of two albums, Negus in Natural Person and As Promised, the latter of which is a collaboration with Southern hip hop producer Mannie Fresh, initially titled OMFGOD. His claims of retirement were seen as questionable as he played shows on September 13, 2017, at the Fox Theater in Oakland as part of Black Star and performed on Gorillaz' Humanz World Tour, performing "Stylo" with Peven Everett, who filled in for Bobby Womack, who died in 2014. He also has yet to release or announce a release date for the last two albums of his career.
In February 2018, Bey announced, on stage, a new Black Star studio album, produced by Madlib, would be released in 2018. However, no specific release date was made available. Later on that year, Bey appeared on the titular track of Kids See Ghosts, the collaborative effort of Kanye West and Kid Cudi. In March 2019, he debuted his album, ንጉሥ (pronounced Negus) at a listening session as part of Art Basel Hong Kong. In a press release, he said that the album "will continue to unfold as a series of varied installations around the world". He has no plans of releasing the album digitally or physically.
On June 28, 2019, Bey appeared on Bandana, an album by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, alongside Black Thought, on a track named "Education". In November 2019, he stated that unreleased music, such as his collaborative album with Mannie Fresh, was still "on deck" for release. In 2021, he launched "The Midnight Miracle" podcast on Luminary, along with Dave Chappelle and Talib Kweli. In April 2022, a release date for the long-awaited Black Star project was officially announced. The album titled No Fear of Time was released via Luminary on May 3, 2022.
Acting career
Beginnings as child actor
Prior to his career in music, Bey entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television movies, sitcoms and theater, some of which were under the name Dante Beze. At the age of 14, he appeared in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham, which aired on ABC in 1988. He played the oldest child in the 1990 family sitcom You Take the Kids, shortly before it was cancelled. In 1995, he played the character Dante, Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show The Cosby Mysteries. In 1996, he starred in a Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders. He also had a small role alongside Michael Jackson in his short film and music video Ghosts (1997).
Feature films, theater and television
After brief appearances in Bamboozled and Monster's Ball, Bey played a rapper who is reluctant to sign with a major label in Brown Sugar. He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award.
In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera as Lt. Miller, a crooked cop.
In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright won a Special Award from the Outer Critics Circle Award for their joint performance. He played Left Ear in the 2003 film The Italian Job. That same year, he appeared in the Alicia Keys music video You Don't Know My Name.
In television, Bey has appeared on NYPD Blue, Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, and hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show Def Poetry. He also appeared on the sitcom My Wife and Kids as the disabled friend of Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans).
Bey won "Best Actor, Independent Movie" at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman. For his portrayal of Vivien Thomas in HBO's film Something the Lord Made, he was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He also played a bandleader in HBO's Lackawanna Blues. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
In 2006, Bey appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party alongside Black Star partner Talib Kweli, while also contributing to the film's soundtrack. He was also featured as the banjo player in the Pixie Sketch" from Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes, though his appearance was edited out of the DVD. He starred in the action film 16 Blocks alongside Bruce Willis and David Morse. He also landed a recurring guest role on Boondocks, starring as Gangstalicious. He is set to be in Toussaint, a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, opposite Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. He made a cameo appearance as himself in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
In 2007, Bey narrated the PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves.
In 2008, Bey starred in the Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind, playing a video rental store employee whose best friend is played by co-star Jack Black. He also portrayed Chuck Berry in the film Cadillac Records, for which he was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an Image Award.
In 2009, he appeared in the House episode titled "Locked In" as a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome. His performance was well received, with E! saying that Mos Def "delivers an Emmy-worthy performance". He was also in the 2009 film Next Day Air.
In 2010, he appeared on the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! as Super Mr. Superhero. He also appeared in A Free Man of Color, John Guare's play at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.
In 2011, he began a multi-episode appearance on the sixth season of Showtime television series Dexter. He played Brother Sam, an ex-convict who has supposedly found religion despite finding himself in violent situations.
In January 2016, Bey announced his retirement from the music and the film industries on Kanye West's website. In March 2016, it was announced that he had been attached to star in "his last live-action film", The Disconnected, a science fiction thriller dealing with policing, identity, and the intersection of technology and humanity.
Social and political views
In 2000, paired with Talib Kweli, Bey organized the Hip Hop for Respect project to speak out against police brutality. It was created in response to the 1999 police shooting of Amadou Diallo, and sought to accumulate 41 artists to the roster, one to match each of the 41 gunshots fired on Diallo.
Bey is well known for his leftist activism. In 2000, he performed a benefit concert for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. In May 2005, Bey, Talib Kweli, R&B singer Martin Luther and City Councilman Charles Barron approached New York City Hall, demanding the withdrawal of the $1 million bounty for Assata Shakur.
In September 2005, Bey released the single "Katrina Clap", renamed "Dollar Day" for True Magic (utilizing the instrumental for New Orleans rappers UTP's "Nolia Clap"). The song is a criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, Bey pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall on a flatbed truck and began performing the "Katrina Clap" single in front of a crowd that quickly gathered around him. He was subsequently arrested for not having a public performance permit in his possession.
In October 2006, Bey appeared on 4Real, a documentary television series. Appearing in the episode "City of God", he and the 4Real crew traveled to City of God, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to meet Brazilian MC MV Bill and learn about the crime and social problems of the community.
On September 7, 2007, Bey appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher where he spoke about racism against African Americans, citing the government response to Hurricane Katrina, the Jena Six case, and the murder conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal. He appeared on Real Time again on March 27, 2009, and spoke about the risk of nuclear weapons.
In September 2011, Bey joined the cast of the environmental children's hip hop musical Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature as narrator. In July 2013, he appeared in a short film released by the human rights organization Reprieve, depicting the forced-feeding methods used at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. This transpired after a document containing the military instructions for the procedure was leaked.
In September 2018, Bey and advertising executive Free Richardson opened an art exhibition to the public in an art gallery in the South Bronx, called the Compound, centered around hip-hop and fine art. The goal of this gallery was to help bridge the gap between the two fields, by showcasing artists from marginalized backgrounds who normally would not be represented in art galleries. Art forms with negative connotations, such as graffiti, as presented in a more optimal context. "The purpose of the gallery is to say all art is equal," Mr. Richardson said. "But we are in the borough that created hip-hop, which is the biggest art form in the world, so it's always an extending arm. It's always present."
Legacy
About.com ranked him #14 on its list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time, and The Source ranked him #23 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. AllMusic called him one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late 1990s, and one of hip-hop's brightest hopes entering the 21st century. He has influenced numerous hip hop artists throughout his career, including Lupe Fiasco, Jay Electronica, Kid Cudi, and Saigon, and Logic. Kendrick Lamar once mentioned him as a very early inspiration as a young rapper, though Lamar denied being a part of the conscious rap movement. He has also directly influenced artists outside of hip-hop, including English singer-songwriters Adele and Amy Winehouse.
Personal life
Bey married Maria Yepes in 1996. He filed for divorce from Yepes in 2006. She took him to court over failure in child-support obligations, paying $2,000 short of the monthly $10,000 he is ordered to pay for their two daughters. He has four other children.
His mother Sheron "Umi" Smith has actively managed portions of her son's career. She is a motivational speaker, and authored the book Shine Your Light: A Life Skills Workbook, where she details her experience as a single mother raising him.
In January 2016, Bey was ordered to leave South Africa and not return for five years, having stayed in the country illegally on an expired tourist visa granted in May 2013. That month, he was charged with using an unrecognized World Passport and having lived illegally in South Africa since 2014. He had reportedly recruited Kanye West to help defend him, and posted a message on West's website announcing his retirement from show business. There was an ongoing court case in relation to immigration offenses involving the artist and his family. He was allowed to leave South Africa on November 22, 2016, but he was barred from coming back.
Discography
Solo albums
Black on Both Sides (1999)
The New Danger (2004)
True Magic (2006)
The Ecstatic (2009)
ንጉሥ (Negus) (2019)
Collaborative albums
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (1998)
Manifest Destiny (with Ces and DCQ, as UTD) (2004)
December 99th (with Ferrari Sheppard, as Dec 99th) (2016)
No Fear of Time (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (2022)
As Promised (with Mannie Fresh) (TBA)
Filmography
Accolades
BET Awards
Black Movie Awards
Black Reel Awards
Gold Derby Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Gotham Awards
Grammy Awards
MOBO Awards
NAACP Image Awards
NAMIC Vision Awards
Online Film & Television Association Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards
Satellite Awards
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
Teen Choice Awards
Notes
References
External links
Mos Def / Dante Smith discographies at Discogs.
1973 births
Living people
African-American male actors
African-American male rappers
American male rappers
20th-century African-American male singers
American activists
African-American male singer-songwriters
African-American record producers
African-American Muslims
Converts to Islam
American hip hop singers
American hip hop record producers
American male film actors
American male television actors
People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Progressive rap musicians
Male actors from New York City
Rappers from Brooklyn
Alternative hip hop musicians
East Coast hip hop musicians
Slam poets
Hip hop activists
GOOD Music artists
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American rappers
Record producers from New York (state)
Downtown Records artists
Theatre World Award winners
American child actors
Soulquarians members
21st-century African-American male singers
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Crooklyn Dodgers members
Black Star (rap duo) members