![]() ![]() After signing with Rawkus Records, he and Talib Kweli released a full length album under the band name Black Star, entitled Black Star. In 1996 he emerged as a solo artist, working with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees before releasing his own first single, “Universal Magnetic” which was a huge underground hit. Despite being signed to Payday Records, the group only released two singles and the group’s debut album, Manifest Destiny, did not see the light of day until 2004 when released through Illson Media. In 1994, Mos also began his music career, forming the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD) with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Mos Def began his performing career on the television show The Cosby Mysteries in 1994. Initially recognized for his musical output, Mos Def’s screen work since the early 2000s has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work. 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. He began rapping in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics in 1994, and then formed the duo Black Star with Talib Kweli in 1998. ![]() He now works under the nom de plum Yasiin Bey, and has performed under the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante and Pretty Flaco. While he has generally held to that pledge, he has made occasional musical appearances and did release another album, Negus, in 2019.Dante Terrell Smith (born Decemin Brooklyn, New York, United States), now known by the stage name Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper and actor. ![]() Yasiin Bey announced in 2016 that he was retiring from both music and acting. He changed his name to Yasiin Bey in 2011, saying it was "time to expand and move on" and that he would retire the stage name of Mos Def. ![]() As Mos Def, his other albums include True Magic (2006) and The Ecstatic (2009). He also appeared in movies like 16 Blocks (2006) and Cadillac Records (2008, playing Chuck Berry), and on TV shows like The Boondocks (2005-08, the animated series created by Aaron McGruder), and Dexter (2011). By 2004 he'd had a second successful album, The New Danger, appeared in the thriller The Italian Job and earned an Emmy nomination for a lead role in the HBO movie Something The Lord Made. After his first solo album, 1999's Black on Both Sides, Mos Def the actor began to get as much attention as Mos Def the hip-hop artist, in films such as Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2000) and in Monster's Ball (2001, with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton). As Mos Def, he hit the music scene in the late 1990s, first gaining attention for the underground hit "Universal Magnetic." With Talib Kweli he formed the group Black Star and made a name for himself as a non-gangsta, socially conscious rapper who earned critical praise, if not multi-platinum record sales. He is also known to movie audiences for his roles in The Italian Job (2003, with Mark Wahlberg) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005, starring Zooey Deschanel). Name at birth: Dante Terrell SmithYasiin Bey is the critically-acclaimed hip-hop star formerly known as Mos Def. ![]()
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