![]() This performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. On November 7, 2007, Mos Def performed live in San Francisco at a venue called The Mezzanine. The song "Dollar Day" uses the same beat as Juvenile’s "Nolia Clap". Also, the track "Undeniable" samples a version of the Barrett Strong/Norman Whitfield composition "Message from a Black Man". The song "Crime & Medicine" is essentially a cover of GZA’s 1995 single "Liquid Swords", though it contains different verses. Mos Def’s final solo album for Geffen Records, True Magic, was released in 2006. The singles included "Sex, Love & Money" and the B-side "Ghetto Rock" the latter went on to receive several Grammy Award nominations in 2004. ![]() The New Danger contained a mix of several musical genres, including soul, blues, and rock and roll, performed with his rock band Black Jack Johnson, which contained members of the bands Bad Brains and Living Colour. Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie and Rawkus compilations Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing.Īfter the collapse of Rawkus, he signed to Interscope/Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in 2004. Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in 1999, also through Rawkus. Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the hit singles, "Respiration" and "Definition", which would go on to be featured in VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop. They released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, in 1998. Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the 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". He is friends with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest. At 19, he expressed his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation. He was raised by his mother in Brooklyn his father lived in New Jersey. ![]() Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman. ![]() Mos Def has also been active in several social and political causes. He is well known for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the American drama series Dexter. Since the early 2000s, Mos Def’s screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his acting work. 23 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.Įditors of ranked him number 24 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). He was a major force in late 1990s underground hip hop while with Rawkus Records. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and MC, known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. ![]()
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