Yasiin Bey
From Brooklyn
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About
Also known as: D. Smith, Dante "Beze" Smith, Dante Smith, Dante T. Smith, Dante Terrell Smith, Mos Def
Yasiin Bey, long known to hip hop heads as Mos Def, is one of the most distinctive voices to come out of Brooklyn. His sharp wordplay and unflinching commentary on police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the everyday realities facing Black Americans have kept him a central figure in conscious hip hop since the mid 1990s. His 1998 collaboration with Talib Kweli as Black Star, the album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, remains a landmark, with singles like "Definition" and "Respiration" featuring Common still holding up decades later. His 1999 solo debut Black on Both Sides cemented his reputation, charting at number 25 on the Billboard 200, and The Ecstatic in 2009, built largely around Madlib production, earned serious critical praise as well. Beyond music, he has had a notable acting career with roles in films like The Italian Job, Be Kind Rewind, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and hosted Def Poetry Jam for five years. About.com ranked him 14th on their list of the 50 greatest rappers of all time.
