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| Birth Name(s) : Mos Def |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Full Mos Def Biography
Mos Def began his music career in 1994 in the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite their contract with Payday Records, the group only released two singles, and their debut album Manifest Destiny was not released until 2004, when it was distributed by Illson Media. In 1996, he emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal Magnetic", which was a huge underground hit.
After signing with Rawkus Records, Mos Def and Talib Kweli formed the group Black Star, and released a full length album under the name, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. The album was released in 1998 and featured Hi-Tek as producer on most of the tracks.
Mos Def released his solo debut Black on Both Sides, in 1999 through Rawkus Records. Def was also featured on Rawkus' influential Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing series of compilations. After the collapse of Rawkus, he signed to Interscope/Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in 2004.
Mos Def's background in film and theater date back to his days at New York University, studying experimental theater. He began his professional acting career at the age of 14, appearing in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham. He then played the oldest child in the short-lived family sitcom, You Take the Kids, starring Nell Carter and Roger E. Mosley. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries.
In television, Mos Def has appeared on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, and has hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show, Def Poetry since its inception. The show's sixth season aired in 2007. He also appeared on the sitcom My Wife And Kids as the Uncle of Michael Kyle's (Damon Wayans) children.
Mos won Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of the skeptical 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 Award, a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
In 2006, Mos Def appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party alongside fellow Black Star companion Talib Kweli, while also contributing to the film's soundtrack. Also, Mos Def was featured as the black banjo player in the infamous "Pixie Sketch" from Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. He was later edited out of it on the DVD. Additionally, Mos Def is in the motion picture 16 Blocks along with co-stars Bruce Willis and David Morse. During the first season of Boondocks, Mos starred as "Gangstalicious". He is also set to be in Toussaint, a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture, opposite Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. He made a cameo appearance playing himself in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Mos Def appears alongside Kanye West on the track "Drunk and Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off the highly anticipated album, Graduation. It is unknown if he will be releasing another solo album. Mos Def is also releasing a pair of Converse shoes. Mos Def also appears on the debut album from fellow New Yorkers, Apollo Heights on a track titled, "Concern". In October, Mos signed a deal with Downtown Records and appeared on a remix to the song "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice.
On November 7th, Mos Def performed live in San Francisco at a venue called The Mezzanine. This performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. During this performance, he sang quite a few new tracks which may be appearing on an upcoming album. He is to be appearing on GZA's fifth solo album, Pro Tools, due out in January 2008 as well as Beanie Sigel's album The Solution.
In recent shows Mos Def has played new songs from his album said to be named "The Ecstatic". He has shown crowds tracks written and produced by Madlib and has rumored to be going to Kanye West for new material. The album is said to be released in February 2008.
On Mos Def's 2004 album The New Danger, the rapper took his penchant for experimentation to a new level. Most of the songs were more hip-hop flavored stylings of blues and rock, with fewer raps thrown in. This threw off fans who were expecting another full-blown rap album. The New Danger also featured the controversial song, "The Rape Over", a parody of Jay-Z's The Blueprint hit "Takeover":Old white men is runnin' this rap shit,Corporate forces runnin' this rap shit,Some tall Israeli is runnin' this rap shit,We poke out our asses for a chance to cash in.Cocaine, is runnin' this rap shit,'Dro, 'yac and e-pills is runnin this rap shit,MTV is runnin' this rap shit,Viacom is runnin' this rap shit,AOL and Time Warner runnin' this rap shit,Quasi-homosexuals is runnin' this rap shit.
Mos and Immortal Technique released a similarly controversial song, "Bin Laden" in 2004, which blamed the Reagan Doctrine and President George W. Bush for the September 11, 2001 attacks. A club remix song, featuring Eminem, was released the following year, in 2005. |
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