Mos Def (b. December 11, 1973): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musician, composer, songwriter, rapper, arranger, ensemble leader, producer and teacher.

SOUND PROJECTIONS

AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE

EDITOR:  KOFI NATAMBU

SUMMER, 2019

VOLUME SEVEN    NUMBER TWO

HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND

(L-R:  Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Brian Holland)

Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:

SHIRLEY SCOTT

(June 15-21)

FREDDIE HUBBARD

(June 22-28)

BILL WITHERS

(June 29- July 5)

OUTKAST

(July 6-12)

J. J. JOHNSON

(July 13-19)

JIMMY SMITH

(July 20-26)

JACKIE WILSON

(July 27-August 2)

LITTLE RICHARD

(August 3-9)

KENNY BARRON
(August 10-16)

BUSTER WILLIAMS

(August 17-23)

MOS DEF

(August 24-30)

RUN-D.M.C

(August 31-September 6)

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mos-def-mn0000927416/biography

Mos Def

(b. December 11, 1973)

Artist Biography by Jason Birchmeier

 

 

Initially regarded as one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late '90s, Mos Def, aka Yasiin Bey, turned to acting in subsequent years as music became a secondary concern for him. He did release new music from time to time, including albums such as The New Danger (2004), but his output was erratic and seemingly governed by whim. Mos Def nonetheless continued to draw attention, especially from critics and underground rap fans, and his classic breakthrough albums -- Black Star (1998), a collaboration with Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek; and Black on Both Sides (1999), his solo debut -- continued to be revered, all the more so as time marched forward. Mos Def often used his renown for political purposes, protesting in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Jena Six incident in 2007, for instance.

Born Dante Terrell Smith Bey on December 11, 1973, in New York City's Brooklyn borough, Mos Def began rapping at age nine and began professionally acting at age 14, when he appeared in a TV movie. After high school, he began acting in a variety of television roles, most notably appearing in 1994 on a short-lived Bill Cosby series, The Cosby Mysteries. In 1994, Mos Def formed the rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother and sister, and signed a recording deal with Payday Records that didn't amount to much. In 1996, his solo career was launched with a pair of high-profile guest features on De La Soul's "Big Brother Beat" and Da Bush Babees' "S.O.S." A year later, in 1997, Mos Def released his debut single, "Universal Magnetic," on Royalty Records, and it became an underground rap hit. This led to a recording contract with Rawkus Records, which was just getting off the ground at the time, and he began working on a full-length album with like-minded rapper Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek. The resulting album, Black Star (1998), became one of the most celebrated rap albums of its time. A year later came Mos Def's solo album, Black on Both Sides, and it inspired further attention and praise. Yet, aside from appearances on the Rawkus compilation series Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing, no follow-up recordings were forthcoming, as the up-and-coming rapper turned his attention elsewhere, away from music.

During the early 2000s, Mos Def acted in several films (Monster's Ball, Bamboozled, Brown Sugar, The Woodsman) and even spent some time on Broadway (in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog). He simultaneously worked on the Black Jack Johnson project with several iconic black musicians: keyboardist Bernie Worrell, guitarist Dr. Know, drummer Will Calhoun, and bassist Doug Wimbish. This project aimed to reclaim rock music, especially the rap-rock hybrid, from such artists as Limp Bizkit, who Mos Def openly despised. Mos Def hoped to infuse the rock world with his all-black band, and during the early 2000s, he performed several small shows with his band around the New York area. In October 2004, he finally delivered a second solo album, The New Danger, which involved Black Jack Johnson on a few tracks.

Two years later, after a few more acting roles -- including the Golden Globe-winning Lackawanna Blues and the Emmy-winning Something the Lord Made, both of which were made-for-television movies -- Mos Def released his third solo album, True Magic (2006). A contract-fulfilling release for Geffen, which had absorbed Rawkus years prior, the album trickled out in a small run during the last week of 2006. Bizarrely, the disc came with no artwork and was sold in a clear plastic case -- though its single, "Undeniable," did manage to grab a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. Released on the Universal-distributed Downtown label, The Ecstatic followed in June 2009. At that point, Mos Def had significant acting roles in Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind (in which he co-starred with Jack Black) and Cadillac Records (he played Chuck Berry). The Ecstatic nabbed another Grammy nomination. Throughout the next few years, he lengthened his acting résumé and contributed to Gorillaz' Plastic Beach, Robert Glasper Experiment's Grammy-winning Black Radio, and A$AP Rocky's At. Long. Last. A$AP, among other albums. In January 2016, he made an announcement through Kanye West's website; after he disputed a recent arrest in South Africa for breaking an immigration law, he declared his retirement from the entertainment industry and the forthcoming release of his final album, due later in the year. 

https://brooklynrail.org/2007/04/music/mos-def-and-the-new

Music

Mos Def and the New Old Magic

April 2007

by Douglas Singleton

Mos Def’s True Magic is anything but the throwaway recording it is often accused of being; it is in fact a very serious culmination of this hip-hop artist’s musical progression. Released quietly by Geffen in late December, it featured no artwork or sleeve, simply a photo of Mos stenciled straight onto the CD inside a clear case. It was quickly and mysteriously yanked from stores by the label shortly thereafter, the rumor being that it would be re-released “properly” sometime in the spring. After Mos’s much-ballyhooed 1999 debut, Black On Both Sides, and his followup, the 2004 rock/hip-hop hybrid The New Danger, accusations that he was operating on cruise-control dogged True Magic. But whereas those earlier records felt mashed together to make a whole, True Magic is a lean, straightforward hip-hop record. Stripped down and spare, it’s a retro b-boy tome—lyrical dexterity coupled with Mos’s unique vocal take on the African-American musical tradition. Along with a series of gigs he and his live band performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February, True Magic represented a deep reflection on the state of hip-hop in 2007.

Mos has become famous for the spirited live performances he’s sprinkled across New York over the past few years—experimentation with his hard-rock band, Black Jack Johnson, as well as performances with various jazz ensembles. His shows at Blue Note in 2004, in which he reportedly stepped aside and let the musicians rule the night, explored Miles’ Bitches Brew along with an energetic, if eyebrow-raising, interpretation of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love.” Along with an early 2007 performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center, these performances have become legend. At BAM, Mos performed with pianist Robert Glasper and a bass/drums/guitar core band, along with a DJ, Preservation. The band’s tenor and soprano saxes were augmented by the eight-member Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, recently transplanted from Chicago. Blowing away the BAM Opera House with rich, textured horns, this was a band to be taken seriously. Everyone, including Mos, wore matching T-shirts with a photo of Barack Obama and the words “So Fresh, So Clean” stenciled in green-and-red block lettering. (On the back was a photo of the slain Sean Bell.)

What was startling to attendees of the BAM performance’s mixture of classic hip-hop, R&B, jazz interpretation, and rock—a different kind of American Songbook—was the realization that this was the promise hip-hop offered back in the 1980s: a sampling and reinterpretation of songs from across the musical spectrum. The Brooklyn audience—culturally diverse like the borough itself, but heavily African-American—was so taken with the band’s lively cover of BBD’s “Poison” (Mos recreating the crouching circle dance from the music video straight-faced) that the house was nearly brought down. Imagine a blaring horn riff in place of the line “That girl is—poi-sunnnn.” Mos’s powerful interpretation of “I Put a Spell on You,” starting out a cappella and then taken up by the band, was nuanced, owing as much to Nina Simone’s cover as Screamin’ Jay’s original. A sense of rapture permeated the air in the Howard Gilman Theater as Mos connected African-American musical traditions, the audience like starving multitudes fed food they hadn’t realized they were hungry for.

At BAM, Mos visited portions of the old-school “Undeniable” and the love-gone-wrong plea “U R the One,” comfortably traversing a spectrum of musical styles, making them his own. (Unfortunately, he didn’t perform “Napoleon Dynamite,” one of True Magic’s high points, a blaxploitation funk tune with choir-like accompaniment and a layer of lyricist-lounge storytelling on top.) The sheer breadth of the material was bewildering: Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane,” the Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By.” If indeed hip-hop is a contemporary cousin to jazz, then experimentation with its parameters must be the rule rather than the exception.

Like its predecessors, True Magic finds Mos singing as often as MC’ing. There are those who take exception to his tendency to croon unabashedly as much as he raps, but they miss the point: This is the complete package. Mos puts any number of contemporary R&B singers to shame, pairing vocal range with impressive lyrical and spiritual depth. Vamping on Stevie Wonder’s “That Girl” with his own “Hip-Hop” at BAM, he is Marvin Gaye enveloped inside KRS-One—a deadly combination. When Mos put aside his singing to spit “Life Is Real” off The New Danger, he was refusing to be pigeonholed as one particular type of performer. Often accused of neglecting music in favor of his burgeoning acting career, he responds with these periodic, powerful live performances. True Magic, a rap record with hints of soul, rock, and spoken-word jazz, represents what hip-hop really is: all of these and yet none. Like jazz, attempting to define hip-hop in a world of Lauryn Hill, Japanese turntablists, reggaeton, and Brazilian baile (and retro heavy-rockers Earl Greyhound, who played upstairs in the BAMcafé after Mos’s Saturday performance as part of a Black Rock Coalition residency) is pointless.
Something of a political artist, if anyone in hip-hop or popular music can don that hat, Mos has produced one of the most unabashedly scathing critiques of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina in “Dollar Day (Surprise, Surprise),” off of True Magic (with beats borrowed from New Orleans’ Juvenile). A selected sampling of its lyrics, verses of which were performed at BAM:

It’s Dollar Day in New Orleans It’s water, water everywhere and people dead in the streets And Mr. President he ’bout that cash He got a policy for handlin’ the niggaz and trash And if you poor or you black I laugh a laugh they won’t give when you ask You better off on crack Dead or in jail, or with a gun in Iraq And it’s as simple as that God save these streets One dollar per every human being It’s that Katrina Clap (Clap, clap, clap, clap)

This is something of the political promise of hip-hop twenty years ago. One can only imagine Geffen’s reaction when Mos was arrested by police outside Radio City Music Hall during the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, attempting to perform “Dollar Day” from a truck bed stage. (Peep the YouTube footage.)

As powerful as the BAM performance was, it was not impeccable—extremely loose to the point of being informal, like sitting in on a rehearsal. The long rests between songs invited much verbal jockeying from the rowdy balcony crowd. And True Magic itself comes off more like a demo than a finished product at times. I’m still not sure what to make of Mos’s incessant sampling of well-known, previously used hip-hop beats. On The New Danger it was Jay-Z’s “Takeover,” while True Magic uses the GZA’s “Liquid Swords” and the UTP crew’s “Nolia Clap.” Is there some kind of referential language being spoken, or is it just lazy filler? Mos appears to be attempting to connect historical and musical dots (Juvenile and UTP being from New Orleans), but a deeper meaning seems elusive.

A colleague who is a fan says that though she finds “U R the One” candid about the politics of romantic breakups, she nevertheless thinks the lyrics overly provocative and profane. Mos finds himself donning the “conscious rapper” mantle for one wing of the hip-hop community, but too “street” for those expecting constant political piety. Of course, most of our hip-hop heroes straddle the line between saint and pariah, and doing so is more a sign of vitality than a negative.

With at least half a dozen films set to be released soon, as well as book deals and his music, Mos has evolved into a potential heir to the title of “hardest working man in showbiz.” Anyone who doubts his being one of the most exciting artists in contemporary music need only have caught one of his BAM performances. Indeed, it’s a shame that more people outside of New York City will never see these live performances—the hip-hop world in 2007 needs the example, if only to remind us what hip-hop can be, and as a counterpoint to limited interpretations on MTV and BET. An MC accompanied by a live brass band interpreting Madvillain’s “Rainbows” should be beheld by as many contemporary music listeners as possible.

For all of its shortcomings, True Magic’s promise is immense—minimalist hip-hop with bursts of rich, textured song. Whether the record will be given a proper release is anyone’s guess. We need this type of record though, as we need Mos Def. At BAM he closed, appropriately, with De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High.” Giving the crowd a little of what it wanted—he had been badgered from the balcony all night with requests for Black Star’s “Definition”—Mos enfolded inside the De La verses from his “Umi Says.” It was a poignant close to a powerful night.

Contributor

Douglas Singleton

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-hip-hop-lost-mos-def-yasiin-bey-announces-retirement-and-final-album

IS THIS GOODBYE?

How Hip-Hop Lost Mos Def: Yasiin Bey Announces Retirement and Final Album

The artist formerly known as Mos Def announced his retirement amid bitter legal woes in South Africa. We should be saddened: Black culture is better when Mos Def is part of it.

by Stereo Williams

Updated 4.13.17  

MOS DEF

 Valery Hache/AFP/Getty

Hip-hop artist, singer and actor Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) has been detained by South African authorities after he attempted to leave the country to perform at a show in Ethiopia—and the situation has apparently driven the artist to retire from music and film entirely.

Bey moved to South Africa in 2013 as an American, but according to South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, he and members of his family have overstayed their visa. Last week, Bey’s legal representative told OkayAfrica that the star was arrested for using a fraudulent document to travel—his “world passport.”

“From what I’ve read their allegations are wrong. He attempted to leave the country for a professional commitment and was denied the ability to board an airplane after providing his World Passport,” Bey’s rep stated.

“It’s issued by the World Service —in support of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. His understanding is that the South African government has previously accepted the World Passport to enter the country and to provide visas as recently as August.”

When asked if the rapper’s family had stayed past their visa term, the rep responded, “They may have stayed past their visa term, however, his arrest is because of the claim that he was allegedly using a false and fraudulent document.

“He considers himself a world citizen and wanted to to use his World Passport in support of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Although South Africa did not sign the declaration in 1948—probably because they were governed by Apartheid at the time—Nelson Mandela believed it was a necessary document for the continued growth of South Africa after the abolishment of Apartheid.”

According to South African Home Affairs officials, Bey had 14 days to leave the country. But in a frustrated audio message posted on his longtime friend Kanye West’s official website, he says he was held “unlawfully.”

An emotional-sounding Yasiin kicks a freestyle called “No More Parties In S.A.” over the phone before offering his version of what’s going on.
“This is Yasiin Bey. At this present time, I am currently in Capetown, SA. I’m being prevented from leaving unjustly, unlawfully and without any logical reason,” he says. “They’re saying that they want to deport my family. They are making false claims against me, some of these government officials even in the press are making false claims against me. Saying that my travel document that I was traveling with is fictitious. It’s not. Anyone can do research on a world passport, it’s not a fictitious document. It’s not designed to deceive or rob any benefit from the state. In fact, the world passport has been accepted here on numerous occasions.”

Bey continues to voice his frustrations with how he and his family have been treated throughout the message.

“I am not a liar. I’ve made no false claims. I have not misrepresented myself. I’m under unnecessary state supervision and scrutiny.”

In 2013, Bey teamed with the human-rights group Reprieve and released a video reenactment of a force-feeding similar to the ones endured by hunger strikers jailed in Guantanamo Bay. He also spoke about the serenity he’d found living in South Africa.

“I lived in Brooklyn 33 years of my life. I thought I’d be buried in that place,” he told Rolling Stone that same year. “Around seven years ago, I was like, you know, ‘I gotta go, I gotta leave.’ It’s very hard to leave. And I lived in a lot of places. Central America. North America. Europe for a while.
“And I came to Cape Town in 2009, and it just hit me. I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I know when a good vibe gets to you. And, you know, I thought about this place every day from when I left. I was like, ‘I’m comin’ back.’”

“For a guy like me, who had five or six generations not just in America but in one town in America, to leave America, things gotta be not so good with America,” he said.

In 2014, Bey was forced to cancel a U.S. tour due to “immigration issues.”

An official statement from Boston’s Together Music Festival explained: “We regret to inform you that due to immigration/legal issues Yasiin Bey is unable to enter back into the United States and his upcoming US tour has been canceled.”

In yesterday’s message, Yasiin Bey made it clear that he feels he’s being targeted.

“I have reason to believe or suspect that there are political motivations behind the way that I’m being treated because this is following no reasonable strain of logic,” he wearily stated. “And it’s curious. I haven’t broken any law and I am being treated like a criminal. I know that I’m not unique in that regard and I’m grateful that I’m here with my family and I haven’t been physically harmed or anything like that. However, I have been detained and people in this state have taken punitive action against me. Unnecessarily.

“All I seek is to leave this state. I’m not looking to stake any future claims against them for damages or none of that. People can keep the little state jobs they’re concerned about losing.

“The state of South Africa is interfering with my ability to move or even fulfill my professional obligations. We don’t have to be enemies and we don’t have to be friends, either,” he continued. “We don’t have to be here. We’re complying in every possible way reasonably. Just today, state officials visited my domicile, asking questions about me and my family and they had no legal right to do so.”

Before signing off with a “thank you” to his friends and supporters, including West, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, and the Zulu Nation, Bey also made the unexpected announcement that he was done with music and film.

“I’m retiring from the music recording industry as it is currently assembled today and also from Hollywood, effective immediately,” he said. “I’m releasing my final album this year and that’s that. Peace to all. Fear of none.

“All of the people who have supported me, this is no reflection on you,” he shared. “I love the people of this continent. I love this country. But I’m not going to sit idly by and be persecuted by the state.”
If the artist formerly known as Mos Def really is done—done with making music and film, done with voicing his creativity for the public, done with contributing to the landscape of hip-hop—then we should all be saddened. We should be saddened that an industry isn’t more conducive to nurturing the best of our creators. We should be saddened that a culture stifled that creativity to the point that he had to seek peace via nomadic existence. We should be saddened that an art form didn’t value him more. And we should do as much as we can to ensure that this generation of high-profile black creatives don’t get so frustrated with the industry and their audience that they, too, decide the best solution is to walk away.

When I was a young man in the late ’90s, I thought of Mos Def similarly to the way a generation of hip-hop fans view Kendrick Lamar now. He was passionate and thoughtful, he could rhyme his ass off and Black On Both Sides was an album that blew me away from the very first listen. I would start my days with “Umi Says” playing in the background and ride to work blasting “Ms. Fat Booty” and “Mathematics.” Mos Def became quieter and quieter in hip-hop as years passed, seemingly finding more solace in acting and activism. As a new generation of thoughtful emcees has emerged, maybe the weight of Yasiin Bey walking away won’t be immediately felt. Maybe he’d been gone for a long time already, and this just made it official. We don’t know all that has happened and is happening to him as he embarks on his unorthodox personal journey and it may not be for us to know. But contemporary black culture is better when Mos Def is a part of it. Here’s hoping Yasiin Bey finds his way home.

https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/20897/1/mos-def-vs-petite-noir

MusicHead to Head

19August 2014

Text 

Sarah Claire Picton

 

Ignatius Mokone

Mos Def vs Petite Noir

In the studio with the collaborators in Cape Town, as they explain why ‘Noirwave’ is about to take over pop culture

When genre-crossing South African singer Petite Noir (aka Yannick Illunga) uploaded a photo to Facebook in March 2014 of himself and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) in the studio together, questions started being asked. What was Def doing? Five years ago, the Black Star member and GOOD Music affiliate moved to Cape Town and started to be fascinated by the sounds and rhythms of the city. So it made perfect sense to link with Petite Noir, one of the city’s most forward thinking singer-songwriters, whose 2013 tracks like “Noirse” and “Till We Ghosts” recalled the knocked-together vocals of artists like Kwes and King Krule, but also drew on the loose rhythms of South Africa’s musical heritage. We met them at a Cape Town studio one evening to find exactly what kind of Noirwave they were cooking up. 

How did you guys first meet?

Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def): I remember seeing (Petite) Noir sing and I was like, ‘Wow!’ It struck a chord. I really wanted to work with this guy. I found out he was Cape Town-based through Abdi Hussein – a fellow Brooklynite who I’ve known for many years. So it was really quite natural. Yannick asked me if I wanted to do something on (forthcoming album) Ghosts so he came to the studio and played some of his songs. A lot of the tracks really stuck out, it was incredible. I did a couple of rough sketches on a track and when I came back the following day to check it out I was actually really, really proud of it.

In South Africa right now there are certain local artists and bands that are being recognised and promoted overseas more than they are locally. What’s your take on that?

Yasiin Bey: I think you can find parallels with that and what is currently happening in the States with hip hop. There’s a much more vibrant and robust market internationally than what it’s like in the States, even though that might not be the prevailing notion. Many people may believe the strongest market for hip hop is in America, but, from my experience at least, it’s much more diverse and open in Asia and Europe and in Africa. You can also find parallels with the early 20th Century jazz.  Even today the international market for jazz is much more robust than the market in the place where it was born and developed.

Is there such a thing as a South African sound?

Petite Noir: The South African sound is kwaito.

Yasiin Bey: I don’t think that there’s necessarily one sound of Africa. Consider the Blk Jks and The Brother Moves On, those that are into Marimba music and the whole devotional gospel sound like St Vincent and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. You’ll find similarities between Congolese music and Senegalese music. There are musical principles and approaches that you’ll find applied in different ways throughout the continent. I find South Africa to be specifically diverse – I mean Dirty Paraffin and Blk Jks are worlds apart in terms of coming from the same sort of place. The sound is developing and maturing as much as the country is. That’s one of the more appealing aspects to life here, to our social reality. Everything is still in a stage of development; nothing is quite set in stone in a society that is redeveloping and re-establishing itself. There’s a lot of room for positive growth. There are challenges too but I’m much more encouraged than I am pessimistic when I think about life in Africa. I think its future is much brighter than its past.

Considering your involvement with theatre and acting – from your early school days to your experience in the film industry – do you think you might get involved in more than music whilst staying here? 

Yasiin Bey: Sure, there’s quite a vibrant, theatrical community here. There’s a lot going on in the city and I think it’s only going to develop and evolve. When I see what’s happening across the world – in fashion, design, culture, music or visual arts – I definitely see South Africa as a very dynamic community. The kind of dynamism that happens during times when people may feel isolated, and so they start to cultivate their own thing. Some people might look at it as isolation, I look at it as a type of positive solitude. People are aware of what’s going on out in the world, but they’re acting locally; they’re not focused on how the rest of the world is going to perceive them. When you see guys like Smiso from Dirty Paraffin rhyming in vernac or in their native languages, it’s very specific. But I think that’s the rule of good art – when you’re very specific, you end up being universal too. It takes courage to do that and confidence.

You’ve described Noirwave as ‘African influences-meets New Wave, but more than just music – it’s art in general’. Could you elaborate on this?

Petite Noir: Music is spiritual and people find freedom in it. It touches the mind, body and soul. Noirwave is a culture, a lifestyle: drone life. It is going to be the new pop culture. Soon Beyoncé, Future and all these people are going to be singing to Noirwave shuffles.

And in terms of Noirwave being a part of a broader African aesthetic?

Petite Noir: I don't need to prove to people that I am African or scream it out loud. People feel it. Being genuine is a feeling. You can’t create music and tell yourself, ‘I’m making hip hop only.’ Then you’ve got it all wrong. Making music should be a release of energy. You shouldn't be able to know what is coming out; it should just come out automatically. Genuine music lasts. A lot of pop music is not genuine and that’s why so many pop artists come and go. Music can take you on an emotional roller coaster, like some kind of Disneyland in the bold and beautiful shit.

https://www.spin.com/2009/08/spin-interview-mos-def/

The SPIN Interview 

The SPIN Interview: Mos Def

"Extended exposure to commercial rap has got to have some sort of negative psychological impact."

by Charles Aaron 

August 1, 2009

SPIN

Dante “Mos Def” Smith walks the walk and talks the talk — literally. This past May, he led me on a four-hour interview ramble around Manhattan’s SoHo and West Village, stopping into bodegas and smoke shops, greeting fans, giving hugs and pounds, posing for cellphone photos, like the hip-hop ambassador of some conscious-rap dream sequence. But the Brooklyn-born MC, 35, is a knottier figure than such hail-fellow appearances imply. He’s a Broadway and Hollywood actor of subtly complex gifts (Topdog/Underdog, The Woodsman, Something the Lord Made); a fearless, if egocentric, tester of musical boundaries, often to the detriment of his own career (2004’s dodgy rap-rock hybrid The New Danger, 2006’s patchy contract-breaker True Magic); a pesky political provocateur; and a glib propagator of conspiracies and legends (yes on Bigfoot, no on the moon landings!).

He’s also just recorded the best hip-hop album of 2009 thus far — The Ecstatic, featuring kinetic, panoramic, global-pop production from Madlib, Oh No, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and French electro maven Mr. Flash. Whether rapping en español, airlifting Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” into the Iraq War, or toasting a J Dilla beat with Black Star comrade Talib Kweli, Mos Def spits a call to prayer and party and bullshit with a fiery commitment unheard since Black on Both Sides, his late-’90s solo debut.

The Ecstatic’s first single, “Life in Marvelous Times,” might be the most powerful and accessible song you’ve ever recorded — from storytelling to production — yet it’s not even being played on local New York radio.

If “Life in Marvelous Times” can’t get on the radio, then I don’t need to be on the radio. That’s how I feel. It’s over now. The radio is all around you anyway. The radio is everywhere and everybody [points at passersby], so let’s get the vibration going out. I’m very patient. People will hear it, although I know it’s hard for them to ignore all this shit that’s up in their faces. I mean, seriously, The Hills? No dis, but I mean — okay, fuck it, dis. Stop already. Why is anybody supposed to care?

“Life in Marvelous Times” goes back to when you were a little kid, nine years old, 1982.
 

That was the first year I wrote a rhyme, and it was also the year that I first saw Wild Style — in the theater, in the Bronx, with my moms. The place was packed. I lived for a summer in the Bronx, and you can’t really describe that time and the energy and have it mean all that it did. It falls short. New York was another type of place, and hip-hop was local, community music, public-access channel. It was a culture that came up in a city on the decline.

Didn’t you start acting when you were really young?

I was in my first play, Free to Be…You and Me, about the same time, when I was in fifth grade. I just caught the bug, and the magnet schools around my way had talent programs, and my mother was keen on getting me into them. And Philippa Schuyler, my middle school, was this place, this oasis, in Brooklyn, in Bushwick, in the hood, but there were all these bright, talented kids. It was like the Huxtables years before The Cosby Show.

You’re the eldest of 12 children and stepchildren — how long were the kids still coming after you were born?

From ’75 to ’97. We didn’t live together in the same house, but we were all close. And, yeah, we was working-class poor people. I never wanted for basics; we always had a place to stay, and my family’s a great family. But as you get older, you’re like, “Wait, this is not how the rest of the world is living.” Then, in the ’80s, [the television show] Dynasty came on, and we were like, “This is really not how the rest of the world is living. We are fucked-up over here. We’re broker than a motherfucker compared to this Dynasty shit.”

You grew up in a housing project in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the Roosevelt Houses. How much of an impact did that have?

I remember just spending hours looking out my window at the grass, this little fake-ass lawn you got. Sometimes, I’ll have recurring dreams about the projects, just staring out that window. I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There’s not a lot of regard for the property by the residents. Everything about it is just priming you to be institutionalized as an adult — the colors on the walls, the acoustics. My window didn’t even open up; you had to pull and push it out sideways to get some bullshit circular air going.

As a kid, did you question why you were living there?
 

Very early, I was like, we’re here because we don’t have any money. The racial aspect hadn’t even crossed my mind. I remember being seven years old and looking out that window, thinking, “I’m gonna make some money.” Because we were good people. It’d be different if we were creeps. But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.

By the time you got to high school, it was the full-on crack era.
 

When crack hit, you had people who couldn’t ordinarily afford cocaine now getting some for the same price they could get a nickel or a dime bag of weed, and it was just over. It was a wrap. You had 15- to 16-year-olds with $200,000 in their closets from hustling. Then you had dudes who wasn’t selling dope trying to get money from the dudes who was. If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in that situation, you’re not going to take it to Chemical Bank. And if somebody takes it from you, you are not calling the police. You just got got.

With so many people buying dope, and so much money to be made selling it, you get mass craziness.

It was a lot of violence, and it was all young folks. You’d be at the bus stop and 30 dudes would run up and just beat the shit out of the whole bus stop, and then get on the bus and beat the shit out of the whole bus, including the bus driver. So you’re walking around in a state of constant stress. It was a wild time, man, and nobody cared. City didn’t care, government didn’t care. The Decepticons [a Brooklyn gang] were running around here with hammers. They’d show up at your school at 8:30 in the morning, you’re waiting to get in, and they’d fuck the whole school up — you, the security guards, your moms, whatever. There was no regard; school was dangerous.

Is that part of why you dropped out of high school? Or was it also that you were already booking acting jobs?

I’d been acting professionally since I was a freshman, and by my sophomore year, I’d discovered the phenomenon of high school ladies, and I was running around here in the Village, and the only reason I still went to school was for the arts. And then, in my senior year, I booked this job in L.A. [the sitcom You Take the Kids with Nell Carter]. I was going to school out there, but the show got canceled, and I came back. I’d met a girl — she was a couple years older than me, and I was pretty impressed with myself, so I was like, I’m not going back to school. It was a silly thing, but I really wanted to pursue my career. I’d also run away from home when I was 15.

But I thought you got along well with your parents?

I just wanted to do what I wanted to do, man. You know, my parents were busy, they were working all the time. My dad was in Jersey, my mother was in Brooklyn. My father’s got his kids, my brothers and sisters, and my mother’s got me and my other brother, and I was just like, I’m out, I’m out. I wanted to be in the streets, because there was an energy there that I wanted to be around. I was generally a quiet, obedient kid, but then I got into my teens, and I started questioning everything around me, and I just broke out. My parents were teenage parents, so they had a lot of struggles, man. I apologized to my mom later for doing what I did, but it was a vital experience for me.

And at that point, ’88 to ’91, say, if you were a kid in the city and you weren’t going out, you were missing a lot.

There was so much going on, so much creativity. And it wasn’t just hip-hop. You had the punk rockers over here, the whole house movement, which was this vibrant cultural thing, and the banjee boys, and all the hood kids coming through. It was all in Washington Square Park — that was ground zero for me. All the voguers, the House of LaBeija, the gay kids. It was a trip, and it was a scene that wasn’t happening in the boroughs — it was happening in downtown Manhattan, and it was like a breath of fresh air. It was like a whole other world. Everybody was listening to dancehall, the Soul Kitchen [club night] was bringing all the [funk] classics back, Sticky Mikes [reggae party]. It was a big scene, and I wanted in.

And you never wanted to go home.

I made a new home.

But when you got serious about rapping, you formed a group, Urban Thermo Dynamics, with your brother D.c.Q [and female rapper Ces].

In the early ’90s, when I really started to find my voice, I was reading a lot of books, and I was moved by the writers, like Chinua Achebe, and I wanted to be able to write rhymes that were as potent as what I was reading. Around ’92, ’93, my brother and me were watching Common Sense’s “Take It EZ” video on [local TV show] Video Music Box and he was like, “Yo, we could actually do this shit.” And we started going around to these talent shows, and at this one showcase, my brother met this guy from Payday Records who later signed us.

Did you think UTD was really gonna make it commercially?

Oh hell yeah, because we were seein’ the Fugees, and we was like a hood version of the Fugees! We had Showbiz & A.G. and Diamond D, great producers, and we was like, “We’re set!”

And you were still acting at the time?

Yeah, I was working with NBC on The Cosby Mysteries, living in Brooklyn, shooting on location in New York with Bill Cosby, meeting all these folks, getting off work and going to the studio. And then Payday shelved the album. And we had some internal group beef — they’re thinking I’m not committed because I’m busy with acting. But after that, I got a chance to meet De La Soul, and they helped put me on the map in a big way [guesting on their Stakes Is High album].

How did you and Talib Kweli form Black Star?

I’d done this 12-inch for [New York indie label] Rawkus, and they wanted me to do an album, and I didn’t want to, after the Payday experience. But me and Kweli were hanging pretty tough. He was working at [Brooklyn bookstore] Nkiru, doing open mics, and he was dope. He had this whole crew, and they were superscientifical. Their rhymes were dense, talking about Egyptology, these guys had the big brains! [Laughs.] Then one day, I bought this jazz album, I think it was Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton, and I said, “That’s it, we need to do a collabo like jazz, a one-album deal.” I was big on being sovereign and free. And they gave us, like, $80,000, $90,000 to record, which was more money than we’d ever seen at one time. I’d just had my first child, and the goal wasn’t about trying to become a star, it was to become a real, working artist.

And then you guys became the symbol of hip-hop that wasn’t about bling and glitz or gangstas and hustlers.
 

Yeah, they had Bentleys and shit, and we weren’t necessarily mad at them for having Bentleys — that just wasn’t our focus. [Laughs.] It’s not like we were being holy rollers, but goddamn, don’t mislead the people. Don’t tell ‘em they on the yellow brick road and then they crash into a brick wall. That’s just not necessary. We were far from perfect; we were out here on the streets like everybody, and we all could’ve gone down that road. But come on, man, crack was not glamorous, it was not sexy. You know, Japan in the ’40s got Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the black community in the ’80s got crack. And that shit was like a mushroom cloud you cannot fuckin’ imagine. It destroyed many, many lives, and you see people living through that hell, you don’t wanna glorify that shit.

What do you think when you see artists still boasting about their material possessions during an economic crisis?

I mean, get as many diamond chains and fur pajamas and champagne breakfasts as you can, but the chains and pajamas and champagne can’t be the endgame — not for us. Reckless capitalism kills black people. This music has given young people in our community a dangerous road map, and at the end of it, if you don’t end up in some sort of trouble or grave, you may just end up a fuckin’ nut. Extended exposure to commercial rap has got to have some sort of negative psychological impact on you. It’s like, this shit is making me tense, this is not uplifting or relaxing, and I’m already living in an anxious environment. New drugs everywhere, violence is looked on as not that big of a deal, our leaders are sociopaths and thieves, the police hate you, and then you turn on the radio, and it’s like, pour some champagne on yourself! And how does that look to the rest of the world? To the rest of our neighbors in this country who don’t come from our communities? They’re like, these people are morons.

On The Ecstatic’s intro, you have a clip of Malcolm X talking about meeting extremism with extreme methods and how he’ll join with anybody to make extreme change. How does that jibe with President Obama’s message?

Obama’s got an extreme fuckin’ message, if you ask me! Barack Obama is an extremist; do not be confused! [Laughs.] You have to be an extremist to believe that you’re gonna be the president of the United States and your name is Barack Hussein Obama! And he’s using extreme methods, but his application is very smooth. Michelle Obama is extreme, her presence is extreme. And it’s an extreme good. Extreme is not negative. There has to be an extreme departure from what we’ve been doing. There has to be extreme renewal.

You’ve been outspoken about how you don’t believe Al Qaeda is a primary threat to the U.S. Do you really believe that?

I don’t see the organization. I don’t see the dynamics. The PLO, Hezbollah, the IRA, even the Ku Klux Klan, they’re dynamic groups — they have a military arm, they have a public relations arm, they have writers. Al Qaeda, the way that they’ve been promoted through the media is that they’re in caves, but they got access to jumbo jets. They got laptops in rooms all over the world with credit cards, and they can hack anything and get a U-Haul truck on a moment’s notice. Who is the leader of Al Qaeda — the Riddler? This shit is not making sense to me. The other terrorists must be envious, like, these Al Qaeda niggas are just loose — they’re a real ragtag bunch!

What’s the first thing we should change about U.S. foreign policy?

America should deal with cleaning up its own house, and stop fucking with people, and stop pursuing its international interests with such disregard for how these people live, their cultural ties. It’s some crazy colonial invader, Ponce de León–type shit. “We’re gonna civilize y’all with Jesus and democracy and Chicken McNuggets. What is this you’re over here eating? Hummus? That’s some bullshit. Here’s some French fries, and let’s put some honey glaze on ‘em. Now you rockin’!”

Do you feel like your views are too often misunderstood, like when you were on Real Time With Bill Maher questioning the threat of Al Qaeda?

This is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but people ain’t brave out here. They don’t wanna upset the dinner table, and if you have a dissenting point of view, then motherfuckers just stop inviting you places. That’s why I’m glad I come where I come from, because I’ve got experience with being uninvited. That shit don’t stop my stride, that don’t bruise my ego or hurt my heart. I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I’m cool with that. I might not be good with you or Bill Maher or Christopher Hitchens, but I’m good in the hood, and that’s all I need to be.

https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/mos-def

House Music: Mos Def

May 29, 2009

The Ecstatic is the appropriately titled, fourth solo album from one of Brooklyn’s finest MCs to ever release a song called “Bin Laden”: Mos Def. His voice, which you might also recognize from his acting in Talledega Nights or Monster’s Ball, filled Downtown Records’ SOHO office as his team watched the first edit of his new video for the album’s single “Casa Bey.” “Casa Bey” samples “Casa Forte,” a 1977 song by Brazilian funk band Banda Black Rio. After watching the video, he was sat down with Spank Rock, who’s currently finishing his second album with Downtown. Mos Def inspired Spank Rock since since he first heard him on De La Soul’s “Big Brother Beat,” and, says Spank Rock, “His unconditional love for music and community resonates with me to this day.” As they both are putting out new material second album, the seasoned artist’s words could not have come at a better time.

SPANK ROCK: Why’s it called “Casa Bey?”

MOS DEF: The original [song by Banda Black Rio] was called “Casa Forte,” which means “strong house.” And I wanted to call it “Casa Forte” because I wanted it to be as close to the original as possible, but the band, the dudes wanted me to come up with my own shit. “Casa Forte” was too close to the original. And I chose “Casa Bey” because that’s a family name, but this is after the recording of the song. During the recording…

SR: But is this just you rapping over the straight song?

MD: I play the piano and the keys at the end. Also, I looped that rhythm part, like the three times at the beginning. SR: Are you playing a lot of the instruments on the album?

MD: No, not on this one. I play guitar and keyboards, synths. On “Casa Bey,” I play the keys. 

SR: Who are the collaborations on the album?

MD: Georgia Anne Muldrow, from Los Angeles. She’s an amazing person and artist. Also, [Talib] Kweli and Slick Rick. I wanted to get Jay Electronica, Black Thought, and Dave from De la Soul, but they were telling me that “Casa Forte” was a difficult cut to rhyme to. It ended up just being my tune. I wanted to get other people on it, but everything in the universeâ??and I don’t want to sound esotericâ??has been pushing it to be my song. For instance, Jay, Black Thought, and Dave were down to be on the track, but I had to push them. And I let it be what it is and it’s fine. I’m really proud of the song and feel blessed to have the opportunity to be the screen for that vibration, for that pass through on the world. I’m just very happy. Ego aside, it’s just like, “Wow, that just happened.” It just happened to me, and it will happen to the world.

SR: What are the main issues that you wanted to approach with this album? 

MD: Life, Love, just observations. It’s not a super-defined narrative, its just raw… from a sincere place. Also, I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture. I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop, before this point and to this point, with all due respect, has done this. I feel like I was the only person who was capable of making this type of music in this type of way. I don’t rap like nobody, I don’t try to sound like nobody. 

SR: I would agree with that. 

MD: This music has a long lasting positive impact on the world. And how this music will sound in 10 years. When people ask my kids, “What did your pops do?” I want it to be like, “He got down like this, he did this.” 

SR: You’ve been one of my biggest influences since I was 14, when I started rapping, and you’ve always put out something that doesn’t sound like anything else. You have your own direction. This is your third solo album: How have you changed now?

MD: I’m growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically. With this album, I’m at this expansion point in my consciousness and my awareness. Things are becoming clearer and clearer to me. 

SR: I feel like Kanye West has been influenced greatly by your work. For instance the singing and his voice…

MD: People always say that to me and I never see it myself. Even considering that, I’m doing it on a different level for myself. It’s another motor for me.

SR: One of the things that I picked up from you personally is that if I’m not smiling while rapping, then I’m not doing my job. I remember always seeing you in the beginning at a show in New York, and you were smiling the whole time, climbing up the walls and shit…

MD: I like to have a good time and enjoy myself. The music is uplift. African art is functional, it serves a purpose. It’s not a dormant. It’s not a means to collect the largest cheering section. It should be healing, a source a joy. Spreading positive vibrations. Coltrane, Marley, Hendrixâ??that mindset. 

SR: Those people that you named seem really self-destructive, Hendrix and Coltrane. It seems like your pacing yourself to avoid that.

MD: I have plans to stick around, even when I’m not around anymore (laughing). Even when I die I won’t stay dead. The vibration is the key thing. If I’m not the hottest, then let me be vital. If you’re necessary you’ll always be in people’s pocketsâ??something that functionsâ??well. 

SR: I’m trying to figure out how we can convey that to young kids: How is being an artist different from being a product?

MD: You have to get busy. There are so many things… I can’t control what people think. I’m not trying to manipulate people’s thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It’s machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different. I’m not knocking it, but I have my mind on another type of prize. There’s another way to achieve that [success] too. There’s another way with less congestion, less emissions. I’ve been spending my time building that road. You have to look for validation from yourself. Who wants to be the outcast? But you have to commit to who you are. Also, a lot of it is the manifestation of society and colonialism in the industry. Radiohead can be as avant-garde as they want and still have pop success, but if you’re black you have surrender yourself to the flashing lights … There’s a problem with those dudes man, they need to be chastised. And I know all those dudes too…

SR: Who are you referring to? 

MD: The “topper-tops”, you know? They know who they is. The people who itemize this, and talk about what they’ll do to you if you talk about them and so forth. That has nothing to do with what my job is. I come to uplift the people. It doesn’t have to be fashionable. I don’t mind being black. I’m black out loud. It’s more than the people that they are, it’s the condition that they represent. I don’t hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the peopleâ??and they’re helpless with it. To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn’t have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way. It’s not that people have to “ball” less, it’s just that they need to do something good. This is what I wanted to tell XXL. They had this cute little girl asking me all these biographical questions, and I was like “what does this have to do with it?” Making people pretend they know me because they know where I was born. I just want to be necessary and do good works. 

SR: Lets talk about the first album you released with Kweli, the Blackstar album, where you have a very strong message to go with the music. Like the young hip-hop spirit, like “I know what’s right”. It’s like being the little bastard teenager who’s saying, “Fuck off, I know exactly what I’m talking about.” With this album, I’m expecting it will be a little different. I’m expecting it wont be super-preachy. 

MD: Blackstar wasn’t preachy. But compared to what was coming out, we were a sincere vibration. We just wanted to be professional artists. BIG and Puff were riding around in Bentleys, and it was dope, but that wasn’t us. We wanted to do what we do. We liked it and we enjoyed it. So it was good. I’ll be 36 this year. I ain’t here to waste nobody’s time, because I don’t want you to waste mine. I hope it’s a benefit to you, something useful to you aside from being some passive fan. The record plays, but you can’t talk to me, you can’t respond to what I say. So, while the record is playing, I try to leave some place for the people to feel welcome. 

SR: One great thing about “Blackstar” was you had the video where you’re all just riding around in a van, scooping up different friends. I still behave that way. 

MD: That’s Brooklynâ??the community caravan. We’re just having a good time man. Spread joy, spread love. We know how to operate with the lights out, actually. They turn them on, that’s cool. We know how to get around quite well in the dark. 

SR: You’re a really funny dude a lot of the times, but you rarely put your humor into the songs. 

MD: Yeah, I’ve noticed that too. I guess I’m a basically serious individual.

SR: When it comes to music?

MD: When it comes to everything. (Both laughing). I go hard; I’m a passionate person. I’m a lot of things, like most people are. Most people are dynamic. The focus is not on me though, I’m a screen. The aim is to always keep myself in the position where the screen is clear. I’m just keeping my ears up.

Mos Def’s The Ecstatic is out June 30. Look out for the new Spank Rock this fall.

https://music.avclub.com/mos-def-black-on-both-sides-1798192179

Reviews

Music

Mos Def: Black On Both Sides

MOS DEF

Black Star's Mos Def And Talib Kweli Are Black Star was one of last year's best albums, it's most remarkable quality being that it didn't just feature a new sound and a new style; it came with a moral philosophy. But while Kweli is the duo's secret weapon, kicking intricate and direct verses with purpose and urgency, Def has the star power. With his movie-star looks (he was an actor before delving into hip hop), charisma, and powerful delivery, Def is primed to become hip hop's next breakout star. But as impressive as his work with Black Star is, his first solo album, the provocatively titled Black On Both Sides, represents a giant leap in scope, ambition, and sonic variety. Like Lauryn Hill, Mos Def is a hip-hop artist so undeniably gifted that even the genre's detractors should pay at least grudging respect. Hill and Def pretty much embody the antithesis of everything people hate about rap: Think rappers only rap because they can't sing? They can do both. Think rappers aren't truly musicians because they don't play instruments? Def is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a rapper. Think rappers only talk about guns, sex, and violence? Def's lyrics here run the gamut from lyrical abstraction to social criticism to pop-culture rhapsodizing. Black On Both Sides is one of the most focused and powerful debut albums hip hop has seen in years, embodying everything from irresistible pop-rap ("Ms. Fatbooty") to a fierce critique of white culture's appropriation of black music and culture that moves steadily from laid-back funk to hopped-up pop-punk ("Rock 'n' Roll"), to a Q-Tip collaboration that builds on A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga" ("Mr. Nigga"). Like most artists who commit themselves to saying provocative things, Def occasionally slips into questionable territory—his defense of O.J Simpson is no more convincing than Chuck D's—and just because Def can sing doesn't mean he always should. But Black On Both Sides is a landmark debut that could, and should, have a long-lasting effect on its genre.

Hip-Hop Hijabis, Mos Def, & Muslim Rap Music Culture

March 31, 2015

 

The Roots, the band accompanying Jimmy Fallon every night on The Tonight Show, are known for  their neo-soul infused hip-hop beats and a jazzy, eclectic, approach to their own original music and every song they cover. On their first commercially successful album Things Fall Apart, from the song, "The Spark," the lyrics rhyme:

“Might act up, but I still can pass dawa
I’m usin’ new ways to try to reach these better days
Instead of tryin’ to take you under I just make you wonder
I still fast, make salaat, and pay zakat
I didn’t make Hajj yet, but that’s my next project
Livin’ two lives, one of turn and one with true lies
Keeping up hope knowing he’s answering to my du’as.”

— The Roots, "The Spark" -- Things Fall Apart

Dawa, salaat, zakat, Hajj, and du'a. This is the language of Islam. Why is it in a Roots song you ask? 

Roots leader and co-founder Tariq "Black Thought" Luqman Trotter belongs to The Nation of Gods and Earths (a.k.a. "The Five-Percent Nation") founded by former Nation of Islam member Clarence 13X and a major influence in the hip-hop scene in NYC and beyond. Malik B., who left the group over a decade ago, is a Sunni Muslim. 

The Muslim influence in The Roots music is evident, but it is not unique. 

Hip-hop giants such as Mos Def, Q-Tip, Nas, Wu Tang Clan, and Erik B and Raqim have have all featured rhymes infused with Islamic terms and themes. Some of them are faithful Sunnis, Five-percenters, or members of the Nation. You could add to this list of notable Muslim rap mavens the up-and-coming UK duo, "Poetic Pilgrimage." 

*Follow @kchitwood for more on religion & culture. 

Featured in the Al Jazeera documentary "Witness: Hip Hop Hijabis," Muneera Rashida and Sukina Abdul Noor are Poetic Pilgrimage, the UK's first female Muslim hip-hop duo. Featured in this documentary is "their personal, spiritual and physical journey" as they tour diverse communities in the UK and in Morocco. The documentary illustrates how their music, and public performance, is not fully accepted in the Muslim community (some view women performing at all as haram or "sinful"). At the same time, the women are able to ride the ups-and-downs, the beats and drops, to discover new things about their Muslim practice and beliefs, their feminist sensibilities, & their Jamaican roots. 

Sukina gave voice to how hip-hop helps her articulate her faith. She said of the music project that her and Muneera share, "[w]e are searching for something that is ours, that is authentically Islam.”  

The women of Poetic Pilgrimage are not alone on this journey. Mos Def, who reigned over the underground rap scene in the 1990s and is one of the most influential emcees of the last two decades is a devout Sunni Muslim. He repeatedly spits his aqidah (creed) on the tracks he writes and produces.

As point of fact, in the song "Wahid" Mos Def flips the egotism and self-aggrandization ubiquitous in hip-hop to point the finger away from the rap artist who is "the one," to aim the finger skyward and direct the minds of those listening to "the Only One" in the sense of the Muslim declaration of faith -- the shahada (Al-Wahid is one of the 99 names of Allah -- God). 

His lyrics, bookended by the adhan -- call to prayer -- go like this:

“When...all...is...said...and...done...there’s...only...one....Fret not ghetto world guess what
God is on your side the devil is a lie
The Empire holds all the gold and the guns
But when all is said and done there’s only...ONE.”— Mos Def, "Wahid"

Mos Def is not alone. Common, rhyming with Cee-Lo in "One Day It'll All Make Sense," sang:

“Koran and the Bible, to me they all vital
And got truth within ‘em, gotta read them boys
You just can’t skim ‘em, different branches of belief
But one root that stem ‘em, but people of the venom try to trim ‘em
And use religion as an emblem
When it should be a natural way of life
Who am I or they to say to whom you pray ain’t right,
That’s who got you doin right and got you this far,
Whether you say “in Jesus name” or “Al hum du’Allah””

— Common, "One Day It'll All Make Sense"

Hip-hop helps many give voice to their faith, Islamic or otherwise.  

H. Samy Alim in his essay "A New Research Agenda: Exploring the Transglobal Hip Hop Umma," (in Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip Hop eds. Miriam Cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence) went so far as to make the point that the “transglobal hip hop umma” functions as a borderless network of Muslim faithful that provides a lyrical embodiment of the oral history and force of Islam in which the metrical and rhapsodical flows parallel the poetic recitation of the Qur'an. 

Hamza and Suliman Perez, as featured in "New Muslim Cool." 

Yet, beyond a shared expressive element hip-hop provides an active vehicle for social protest as part of the "transglobal Islamic underground." 

Drawing on a history of giving voice to the faith in elegaic prose and poetry, Muslim hip-hop artists now engage in lyrical activism by studying Islam, applying it to their lives, and sharing & spreading their views to build an Islamic "class" consciousness focused on explicitly Islamic notions of piety, justice, and peace. Muneera and Sukina form an active part of this "transglobal Islamic underground" as they seek to combine faith and feminism. Indeed, they attempt to demarcate the boundaries between putting on a show for pleasure and a showcase for pondering the faith. Bemoaning the performance act of the game Muneera exclaimed, "it's not supposed to be entertainment, it's supposed to make you think." For the "hip-hop hijabis" rap music becomes not only a vehicle for their expression of Islam, but also a way to confront, and tackle, the issues pertinent to them as Muslim women: modesty and stagecraft, sexuality and solemnity. 

Part of this protestation is by proclaiming their racial and/or ethnic identity alongside their religious character.  

Whether it be Poetic Pilgrimage expressing their Africanity through Muslim infused tunes or Hamza and Suliman Perez from "New Muslim Cool" embodying their Puerto Rican identity, Islamic faith, and street smarts in fresh-pressed lyrics for youth in Pittsburgh, rap becomes a way for worlds to merge for many Muslim musicians. Attempting to forge an identity as "quadruple minorities" Latino Muslims like Hamza and Suliman Perez use hip-hop as a conduit for the imaginative work of identity construction, crafting a hybrid identity that is local to their city-streets yet connected to the global umma, one that is both Latina/o and Muslim, one that is both soulful in its beats and spiritually infused in its lyrics. 

James Samuel Logan wrote for Sightings from the University of Chicago's Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion of how rap is central to the African-American's struggle following #Ferguson and other "terrorizing deaths" of blacks in U.S. city-streets and bayou backwaters. 

He wrote, "Hip Hop artists offer an important, costly and often unsanitized embrace of Black subaltern 'otherness,' an embrace which cyphers problematically-yet-hopefully toward justice and love in this particular place and circumstance of time." 

This force of hip-hop is most evident in the burgeoning Muslim rap scene that emerged out of NYC in the 1970s and 80s alongside the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation's materializing influence. 

Even so, on the borderland between hip-hop and culture, in the streets of struggle and subaltern dissent  there can be tension and bloodshed. In attempting to forge a musical and spiritual fusion of faith and hip-hop heritage there can be conflict. 

As Mette Reitzel, the "Hip-Hop Hijabis" filmmaker, reflected, the merging of rap music and Muslim sensibilities is not utopian. She said:

“By inhabiting the intersection between cultures whose values on the surface seem so conflicting, Poetic Pilgrimage challenge a plethora of dearly held convictions from all sides of the cultural spectrum. Many Western feminists believe that promoting women’s rights from within an Islamic framework is a futile exercise, while in the eyes of some Muslims, female musicians are hell-bound. Within the Afro-Caribbean community, a Muslim convert may be considered a “sell-out”, while cynical music industry insiders suspect that their conversion is merely a clever marketing ploy in a saturated market.” —  --Mette Reitzel, Al Jazeer

 In addition, some wonder whether the expressive, and sometimes profane and/or salacious subject matters and language of hip-hop are conducive to faith-filled utterances. Yet, speaking to critics of the more chauvinistic, secular, and sacrilegious sensibilities found within hip-hop music and culture, Anthony Pinn (teaching RELiX "Religion and Hip Hop Culture") wrote in his essay "Making a World with a Beat:"

The sexism expressed by Saint Paul and other biblical figures and the homophobia that marks both testaments have not resulted in a huge theological backlash requiring the destruction of the Bible as a viable sacred text. The same hermeneutic of multiple meanings may extend to rap lyrics and their creators. This is not to say that that these artists should not be accountable, or should not be critiqued with regard to behavior and opinions. It simply means that we should recognize the often problematic relationship between theological pronouncements and arguments, and practice that plagues the history of religion in and outside hip-hop culture.

Finally, hip hop can serve as a means of rebellion in a negative sense, in the form of what is popularly known as "radicalization." Multiple reports and articles have drawn connections, if only tangential, between rap and the "radicalization" of jihadi activists. Whether rap as recruiting tool or hip-hop serving as a "gateway drug to future terrorism" there are some interlocutors who worry that rap music may serve as a precursor for terrorist violence. Although not proposing that everyone who listens to hip-hop will become "radicalized," commentators fear that rap may create a culture of "grievance" and pushing back against a perceived system of oppression. 

Most definitely, there is much left to study in the intersection and remixing of Islam and hip-hop. 

Whether it be the music of Mos Def, the journey of Poetic Pilgrimage, or the tensions that exist between faith and lurid lyrics this emerging field of research is ripe. Specifically, it is an important gateway to understanding how hip hop is giving voice not only to Muslims, but other faithful as well. Furthermore, it sheds light on how hip hop, and its community, in a sense, provides it's own spirituality and religious community. More than anything, this field of research helps refocus ideas about what it means to be Muslim in the contemporary global scene (i.e. they are not just terrorists and "radicals"). It helps provide a picture of Islam broadly conceived that not only includes hijabs and Hajj, but hip-hop in all its vibrancy as well. 

*To learn more, I highly suggest Hisham Aidi's Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture or Anthony Pinn's Noise and Spirit: The Religious and Spiritual Sensibilities of Rap Music. 

*Follow @kchitwood for more on religion & culture. 

In Faith Goes Pop, Religion and Culture Tags Hip hop, Rap and religion, Religion and hip hop, Poetic Pilgrimage, Al Jazeera Witness, Mos Def, Common, The Roots, Muslim hip hop artist, Muslim rapper, Hisham Aidi, Anthony Pinn, Mette Reitzel, James Samuel Logan, Hamza Perez, New Muslim Cool, Suliman Perez

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def

Mos Def

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Bey performing at the 2012 Ilosaarirock festival

Yasiin Bey (/jæˈsiːn ˈbeɪ/; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), better known by his stage name Mos Def (/ˌmoʊs ˈdɛf/), 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).^[1] 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.^[2] Some of Mos Def's top hits include, "Oh No", "Definition" and "Respiration".^[3]

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.^[4] 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. 

Early life

 

Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman.^[5] The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey.^[6]
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.^[5]

Mos Def attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he picked up his love for acting.^[6][7] 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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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".^[7]
 

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.^[8] 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.^[9]
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.^[10][11]
 

Mos Def in 1999

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.^[13] 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.^[14]

1999–2006: Solo career and various projects

Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999, also through Rawkus.^[15][16] The single "Ms. Fat Booty" charted,^[14] while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200.^[17] Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie.^[18][19]
 

Mos Def performing at Rock the Bells in New York.

In January 2002, Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records,^[20] which released his second solo album The New Danger in October 2004.^[21] It included contributions by Shuggie Otis and Bernie Worrell, Doug Wimbish, and Will Calhoun as the Black Jack Johnson Band.^[22] The album reached #5 on the Billboard 200, making it the most successful for the artist to date.^[17] The single "Sex, Love & Money" charted,^[14] and was nominated for a Grammy Award.^[23] Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records, titled True Magic, was released in 2006.^{[citation needed]}
 

2007–2011: GOOD Music era and name change

 

On November 7, 2007, Mos Def performed live in San Francisco at The Mezzanine venue. The performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. During the event, he announced that he would be releasing a new album to be called The Ecstatic.^[24] He performed a number of new tracks; in later shows, he previewed tracks produced by Madlib and was rumored to be going to Kanye West for new material. Producer and fellow Def Poet Al Be Back revealed he would be producing on the album as well.^[25] The album was released on June 9, 2009; but only Madlib's production had made the cut, along with tracks by Preservation, The Neptunes, Mr. Flash, Madlib's brother Oh No, a song by J. Dilla, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Mos Def appears alongside Kanye West on the track "Two Words" from The College Dropout album, the track "Drunk And Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off West's third major album, Graduation. In 2002, he released the 12" single Fine, which was featured in the Brown Sugar Motion Picture Soundtrack.^[26]

Mos Def also appears on the debut album from fellow New Yorkers Apollo Heights on a track titled, "Concern". In October, he signed a deal with Downtown Records and appeared on a remix to the song "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice.^[27] He appeared on Stephen Marley's debut album Mind Control on the song "Hey Baby". In 2009, he worked with Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan to produce the track "America" for K'naan's album Troubadour.^[28]

In April 2008, he appeared on the title track for a new album by The Roots entitled Rising Down. The new single, "Life In Marvelous Times", was made officially available through iTunes on November 4, 2008, and is available for stream on the Roots' website Okayplayer.

In April 2009, Mos Def traveled to South Africa for the first time where he performed with The Robert Glasper Experiment at the renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival. He treated the South African audience with an encore introduced by his own rendition of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", followed by a sneak preview of the track "M.D. (Doctor)".^[29]

Mos Def has designed two pairs of limited edition Converse shoes. The shoes were released through Foot Locker stores on August 1, 2009 in limited amounts.^[30]

In late 2009, Mos Def created his own clothing line with the "UNDRCRWN" brand called the "Mos Def Cut & Sew Collection". The items were released in select U.S. stores and almost exclusively on the UNDRCRWN website.^[31] 2009 also found Mos Def among the MCs aligning themselves with American entrepreneur Damon Dash's DD172 and collaborating with American blues rock band the Black Keys on the Blakroc album, a project headed by the Black Keys and Damon Dash.^[32] Mos Def appeared with Harlem-bred rapper Jim Jones and the Black Keys on the Late Show with David Letterman to perform the Blakroc track "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)". 

In March 2010, Mos Def's song "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" was featured in Palm's "Life moves fast. Don't miss a thing." campaign.^[33]

Mos Def features on the first single, "Stylo", from the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, alongside soul legend Bobby Womack. He also appears on the track titled "Sweepstakes".
In September 2010, after appearing on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Friday track "Lord Lord Lord", Mos Def confirmed he had signed with GOOD Music.^[34] Mos Def has been an active contributor to the recovery of the oil spill in the Gulf, performing concerts and raising money towards repairing its damages. In June 2010, he recorded a cover of the classic New Orleans song originally by Smokey Johnson, "It Ain't My Fault" with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty.

In September 2011, Mos Def announced that he legally changed his name to Yasiin Bey, and would continue to go by that name.^[35][36] Shortly after that announcement, he recorded as the narrator of the children's hip hop musical, Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature. 

2012–present: Later career and retirement

 

In January 2012, it was reported that Mos Def and Talib Kweli had begun "to resurrect" Black Star.^[37]

In 2015, Def was featured on A$AP Rocky's second studio album At. Long. Last. ASAP, on the track "Back Home", alongside Acyde and the deceased A$AP Yams.^[38] Bey again revived his Mos Def moniker for two new songs in August 2015, titled "Basquiat Ghostwriter" and "Sensei on the Block", respectively.^[39][40]

On January 19, 2016, Mos Def announced his retirement from both the music and film industries on Kanye West's website: "I'm retiring from the music recording industry as it is currently assembled today, and also Hollywood, effective immediately. I'm releasing my final album this year, and that's that."^[41] After announcing his retirement, he expressed gratitude to everyone who has supported him over the years and revealed his intention to enter the fashion industry and complete a handful of films.^[42] Bey also confirmed he still planned to release a collaborative project with Ferrari Sheppard called Dec 99th.^[42]

In October 2016, a planned concert in London was cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed on the artist,^[43] while other European dates suffered the same fate.^[44] On October 14, 2016, Yasiin Bey posted a video to Facebook where he announced that he's still planning to retire: "I'm retiring for real this year, this week. With the 17th anniversary of Black on Both Sides being released, I am grateful to have had the career that I have been able to enjoy."^[45][46] He also announced one last concert which he will be live streaming from Cape Town, South Africa.^[47] In November 2016, he was granted the ability to leave but not reenter South Africa and was put on "South Africa's 'undesirable persons' list". He said he would perform one show in Harlem and three in Washington D.C. after leaving South Africa. He announced that Dec 99th, his final album, would be released on December 9. He released three singles from it "Local Time," "N.A.W." and "Seaside Panic Room".^[48] On December 5, 2016, he announced the title of two albums, Negus in Natural Person and As Promised, the latter of which is a collaboration with Southern hip hop producer Mannie Fresh, initially titled OMFGOD.^[49] His claims of retirement were seen as questionable as he played shows on Wednesday September 13, 2017, at the Fox Theater in Oakland as part of Black Star and performed on Gorillaz' Humanz World Tour, performing "Stylo" with Peven Everett, who filled in for Bobby Womack, who died in 2014. He also has yet to release or announce a release date for the last two albums of his career.^[50][51]

In February 2018, Mos Def announced, on stage, a new Black Star studio album to be released in 2018. The album will be produced by Madlib. No specific release date was made available. Later on that same year, Bey appeared on the titular track of Kids See Ghosts, the collaborative effort of Kanye West and Kid Cudi.

In March 2019, he debuted his latest album, Negus at a listening session as part of Art Basel Hong Kong. In a press release, Mos said that the album “will continue to unfold as a series of varied installations around the world". He has no plans of releasing the album digitally or physically.^[52]
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Mos Def among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.^[53]

On June 28th, 2019, Bey appeared on Bandana, an album by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, alongside Black Thought, on a track named Education. 

Acting career

Beginnings as 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.^[54][55] At the age of 14, he appeared in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham, which aired on ABC in 1988.^[56] He played the oldest child in the 1990 family sitcom You Take the Kids shortly before it was cancelled. 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). 

Feature films

 

After brief appearances in Bamboozled and Monster's Ball, Mos Def played a rapper who is reluctant to sign to a major label in Brown Sugar. He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award.^[57]
In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera as Lt. Miller, a crooked cop. 

In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright won a Special Award from the Outer Critics Circle Award for their joint performance.^[58] He played Left Ear in the 2003 film The Italian Job. That same year he appeared in the music video You Don't Know My Name of the song by Alicia Keys.

In television, Mos Def has appeared on NYPD Blue,^{[citation needed]} on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, and has hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show, Def Poetry since its inception.^{[citation needed]} The show's sixth season aired in 2007. He also appeared on the sitcom My Wife and Kids as the disabled friend of Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans).

Mos Def won "Best Actor, Independent Movie" at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of 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^[59] and a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He also played a bandleader in HBO's Lackawanna Blues. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Mos Def and Bruce Willis on the set of 16 Blocks, filmed on location in Chinatown, Manhattan on Pell Street

In 2006, Mos Def appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party alongside Black Star partner Talib Kweli, while also contributing to the film's soundtrack. He was also featured as the banjo player in the Pixie Sketch" from Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes, though his appearance was edited out of the DVD. He starred in the action film 16 Blocks alongside Bruce Willis and David Morse. He has a recurring guest role on Boondocks, starring as Gangstalicious. He is also set to be in Toussaint, a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, opposite Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes.^{[citation needed]} He made a cameo appearance as himself in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. 

In 2007, Mos Def narrated the PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves. 

In 2008, Mos Def starred in the Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind, playing a video rental store employee whose best friend is played by co-star Jack Black. He also portrayed Chuck Berry in the film Cadillac Records, for which he was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an Image Award.

In 2009, he appeared in the House episode entitled "Locked In" as a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome. His performance was well-received, with E! saying that Mos Def "delivers an Emmy-worthy performance".^[60] He was also in the 2009 film Next Day Air. 

In 2010, he appeared on the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! as Super Mr. Superhero. He also appeared in A Free Man of Color, John Guare's play at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.^[61]
 
In 2011, he began a multi-episode appearance on the sixth season of Showtime television series Dexter. He played Brother Sam, an ex-convict who has supposedly found religion despite finding himself in violent situations.^[62]
 
In January 2016, Mos Def announced his retirement from both the music and the film industry on Kanye West's website. In March 2016, it was announced that he had been attached to star in "his last live-action film", The Disconnected, a science fiction thriller dealing with policing, identity, and the intersection of technology and humanity 

Social and political views

 

In 2000, paired with Talib Kweli, Mos Def organized the Hip Hop for Respect project to speak out against police brutality. The project was created in response to the 1999 police shooting of Amadu Diallo, and sought to accumulate 41 artists to the roster, one to match each of the 41 gunshots fired on Diallo.
Mos Def is well known for his left-wing political views.^{[64][irrelevant citation]} In 2000, Mos Def performed a benefit concert for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[65]
In May 2005, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, R&B singer Martin Luther and City Councilman Charles Barron approached New York City Hall, demanding the withdrawal of the $1 million bounty for Assata Shakur.^[66]
In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap", renamed "Dollar Day" for True Magic, (utilizing the instrumental for New Orleans rappers UTP's "Nolia Clap"). The song is a criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, Mos Def pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall on a flatbed truck and began performing the "Katrina Clap" single in front of a crowd that quickly gathered around him. He was subsequently arrested despite having a public performance permit in his possession.^[67]

In October 2006, Mos Def appeared on 4Real, a documentary television series.^[68] Appearing in the episode "City of God", he and the 4Real crew traveled to City of God, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to meet Brazilian MC MV Bill and learn about the crime and social problems of the community.^[69]

On September 7, 2007, Mos Def appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher where he spoke about racism against African Americans, citing the government response to Hurricane Katrina, the Jena Six, and the murder conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal. He appeared on Real Time again on March 27, 2009, and spoke about the risk of nuclear weapons.^[70]

In September 2011, Mos Def joined the cast of the environmental children's hip hop musical - Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature - as narrator. He stated "the earth was given as a trust to mankind, so we have a responsibility to look after it, take care of it, treat it with respect 'cause it's a gift from the creator to us... We're so dependent on the natural world. The natural world's also dependent on us... If we don't treat it good, it's not gonna treat us very good either."

In July 2013, Mos Def, under the new name Yasiin Bey, appeared in a short film released by the human rights organization Reprieve, depicting the forced-feeding methods used at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. This transpired after a document containing the military instructions for the procedure was leaked.^[71][72]

In September 2018, Bey and advertising executive Free Richardson opened an art exhibition to the public in an art gallery in the South Bronx, called the Compound, centered around hip-hop and fine art. The goal of this gallery was to help bridge the gap between the two fields, by showcasing artists from marginalized backgrounds who normally would not be represented in art galleries. Art forms with negative connotations, such as graffiti, as presented in a more optimal context. “The purpose of the gallery is to say all art is equal,” Mr. Richardson said. “But we are in the borough that created hip-hop, which is the biggest art form in the world, so it’s always an extending arm. It’s always present.”^[73]
 

Legacy

 

About.com ranked him #14 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time,^[2] while The Source ranked him #23 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.^[74] AllMusic called him one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late 1990s,^[75] as well as one of hip-hop's brightest hopes entering the 21st century.^[15] Mos Def has influenced numerous hip hop artists throughout his career, including Lupe Fiasco, Jay Electronica, Kid Cudi, and Saigon.^[76][77][78] 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.^[79]

 

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.^[80] 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.^[81][82] Mos Def has four other children.^[83]
His mother Sheron Smith, who goes by her nickname "Umi", has played an active role managing portions of her son's career.^[84] 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.^[85]

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.^[86] Also that month, he was charged with using an unrecognized World Passport and having lived illegally in South Africa since 2014.^[87][88] 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.^[89][90] There is an ongoing court case in relation to immigration offenses involving the artist and his family.^[91][92]
 

Discography

 

Main articles: Mos Def discography and List of Mos Def songs

Solo albums

• Black on Both Sides (1999)
• The New Danger (2004)
• True Magic (2006)
• The Ecstatic (2009)
• Negus (2019)^[52]

Collaborative albums

See also: Black Star discography

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (1998)
• Manifest Destiny (with Ces and DCQ, as UTD) (2004)^[93]
• Dec 99th (with Ferrari Sheppard, as Dec 99th) (2016)
• As Promised (with Mannie Fresh) (TBA)

 

Discography

 

Main articles: Mos Def discography and List of Mos Def songs

Solo albums

• Black on Both Sides (1999)
• The New Danger (2004)
• True Magic (2006)
• The Ecstatic (2009)
• Negus (2019)^[52]

Collaborative albums

See also: Black Star discography

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (1998)
• Manifest Destiny (with Ces and DCQ, as UTD) (2004)^[93]
• Dec 99th (with Ferrari Sheppard, as Dec 99th) (2016)
• As Promised (with Mannie Fresh) (TBA)

Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1997 Ghosts Townsperson

1998 Where's Marlowe? Wilt Crawley

2000 Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme Himself

Bamboozled Big Blak Afrika Also recorded a song for the movie's soundtrack with other members of the Mau Maus
Island of the Dead Robbie J

2001 Carmen: A Hip Hopera Lieutenant Miller

Monster's Ball Ryrus Cooper

2002 Showtime Lazy Boy

Civil Brand Michael Meadows

Brown Sugar Chris 'Cav' Anton Vichon

My Wife and Kids Tommy 1 episode: Chair Man of the Board
2003 The Italian Job Left Ear

2004 The Woodsman Detective Lucas

Something the Lord Made Vivien Thomas Nominated – Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated – Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Nominated – Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Mini-Series or Television Movie
2005 Lackawanna Blues The Bandleader

The Boondocks (2005-2008) Gangstalicious Voice over for the animated series
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Ford Prefect

2006 Dave Chappelle's Block Party Himself

16 Blocks Eddie Bunker

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Himself Cameo
Journey to the End of the Night Wemba

2007 Prince Among Slaves Narrator

2008 Be Kind Rewind Mike

Cadillac Records Chuck Berry

2009 Next Day Air Eric

House Lee Season 5, Episode 19, "Locked In"
2010 I'm Still Here Himself

Bouncing Cats Himself

Yo Gabba Gabba! Super Mr. Superhero Season 3, Episode 44, Superhero
2011 Dexter Brother Sam Season 6, recurring, (credited as "Mos" in 2 episodes, as "yasiin bey" in 3 episodes)
2013 Begin Again Saul as Yasiin Bey
2014 Life of Crime Ordell Robbie as Yasiin Bey
The Getaway Himself Season 2, Episode 7, in Morocco. as Yasiin Bey
2015 Amy Himself Credited as "yasiin bey"

Accolades
 
Grammy Awards

[94]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2005 "Sex, Love & Money" Best Urban/Alternative Performance Nominated
2006 "Ghetto Rock" Nominated
2007 "Undeniable" Best Rap Solo Performance Nominated
2010 "Casa Bey" Nominated
The Ecstatic Best Rap Album Nominated
2011 "Stylo" (with Gorillaz and Bobby Womack) Best Music Video Nominated

Black Movie Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2006 Mos Def Source Awards Nominated
Black Reel Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2004 Civil Brand Best Actor- Independent Nominated
2004 The Italian Job Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2005 Something the Lord Made Best Actor: T.V. Movie/Cable Nominated
The Woodsman Best Indie Actor Won
2008 Cadillac Records Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2004 Something the Lord Made Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated
Golden Globe Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2005 Something the Lord Made Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
NAACP Image Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2003 Brown Sugar Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
2005 Something the Lord Made Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated
2009 Cadillac Records Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated 


References



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"The 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time". Rap.about.com. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2014-08-09.


"Mos Def Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-04-02.


"Mos Def | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.


Asadullah, Ali (April 2001). "You're Gonna Serve Somebody". Beliefnet. Retrieved March 11, 2012.


Aaron, Charles (August 1, 2009). "The SPIN Interview: Mos Def". spin.com. SpinMedia Group. Retrieved June 16, 2014.


Alim, H. Samy (March 10, 2014). "From Brooklyn to Bo-Kaap". RollingStone.co.za. Rolling Stone SA. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.


Birchmeier, Jason. "About Mos Def". MTV.com. Rovi. Retrieved June 14, 2014.


Glazer, Joshua (2004). "Manifest Destiny [2004] review". AllMusic.com. Rovi. Retrieved June 14, 2014.


"Mos Def - The Universal Magnetic / If You Can Huh You Can Hear". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-10-20.


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External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Mos Def

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mos Def.

Mos Def / Dante Smith discographies at Discogs.
Mos Def on IMDb

THE MUSIC OF MOS DEF: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MOS DEF

Mos Def - Mathematics

Mos Def - Im Leaving

 

Mos Def - Brooklyn

 

Mos Def - Mathematics

Mos Def - The Ecstatic (Full Album)

Mos Def - Umi Says

Mos Def: Hip Hop - Black On Both Sides

Mos Def - Ghetto Rock

Mos Def - Ms. Fat booty HQ

Mos Def - History ft. Talib Kweli

Fear Not Of Man - Mos Def - Black On Both Sides

Rock N Roll - Mos Def - Black On Both Sides

Climb - Mos Def - Black On Both Sides