Mos Def Biography
Mos Def (Yasiin Bey: born Dante Terrell Smith) is an American rapper, singer, actor, and activist. Best known for his music, Bey 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.
He subsequently formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and they released their eponymous debut album in 1998. He was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides. His debut was followed by The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006) and The Ecstatic (2009).
The editors at About.com listed him as the 14th greatest emcee of all time on their “50 greatest MC’s of our time” list. Some of Mos Def’s top hits include, “Oh No”, “Definition” and “Respiration”.
Prior to his career in music, Mos Def entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television films, sitcoms, and theater.
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 and in television series such as Dexter and House. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 2002 and 2007.
Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism and the status of African-Americans.
Mos Def Age Height, And Weight
He was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the United States on 11 December 1973. He is 45 years old as of 0218. He stands at a height of 5 Feet 9 Inches( 1.77 m). Def has an outstanding weight of 76kg(168Ib).
Mos Def Early life
Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman. 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 mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation of Islam. Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13.
At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is close friends with fellow Muslim rappers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.
Mos Def attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he picked up his love for acting.
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.
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, Mos Def witnessed his then five-year-old younger brother Ilias Bey (b. Denard Smith) get hit by a car. Bey, who later adopted the alias DCQ, was described by Smith as “my first partner in hip hop”.
Mos Def Net Worth
Mos Def Family
Def was born to Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman. Def was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey where he was a member of the Nation of Islam but later followed Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation of Islam. Mos Def was exposed to Islam at the age of 13.
Mos has 12 siblings and a step-children.
Mos Def Education
Mos went to middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he became more into acting. Mos Def dropped out of high school in his sophomore year after shooting the film, You Take the Kids in Los Angeles. He had gotten into a relationship with an older girl.
Mos Def Spouse/Kids
In 2005, Def”s married Alana Wyatt. In 1996, Mos Def married Maria Yepes. They both had two daughters: Jauhara Smith and Chandani Smith. Mos and Yepes divorced in 2006.
Mos has six other children from four different women including the two for Maria Yepes.
Mos Def Personal life
Mos Def married Maria Yepes in 1996 and has two daughters with her: Jauhara Smith and Chandani Smith. He filed for divorce from Yepes in 2006.
The former couple made headlines when Yepes took Mos Def to court over failure in child-support obligations, paying $2,000 short of the monthly $10,000 he is ordered to pay. Mos Def has four other children.
His mother Sheron Smith, who goes by her nickname “Umi”, has played active role managing portions of her son’s career. She is also a motivational speaker and has authored the book Shine Your Light: A Life Skills Workbook, where she details her experience as a single mother raising him.
In January 2016, Mos Def 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.
Also that month, he was charged with using an unrecognized World Passport and having lived illegally in South Africa since 2014.
Mos Def had reportedly recruited Kanye West to help defend him and posted a message on West’s website announcing his retirement from show business. There is an ongoing court case in relation to immigration offenses involving the artist and his family.
Musical career
1994–1998: Beginnings with Rawkus and Black Star
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.
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, 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.
Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli.[12] 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
Mos Def 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.
Mos Def Acting Career
Beginnings as a child actor
Prior to his career in music, Mos Def 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 canceled. \
In 1995 he played the character Dante, Bill Cosby’s sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. In 1996 he also starred in a Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders. In 1997 he had a small role alongside Michael Jackson in his short film and music video Ghosts(1997).
Mos Def Legacy
About.com ranked him #14 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time, while 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, as well as one of hip-hop’s brightest hopes entering the 21st century.
Mos Def has influenced numerous hip hop artists throughout his career, including Lupe Fiasco, Jay Electronica, Kid Cudi, and Saigon. Kendrick Lamar has also mentioned Mos Def as a very early inspiration and someone he listened to “coming up” as a young rapper, though he denied being a part of the conscious rap movement.
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