Mos Def

Yasiin Bey (born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor.

Yasiin Bey was born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman Smith.

The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey.

His father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later followed Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into the mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation of Islam.

Bey was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13.

He is close friends with fellow Muslim hip-hop artists Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip.

Bey attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where he developed his love for acting.

After returning from filming You Take the Kids in Los Angeles, and getting into a relationship with an older girl, Bey dropped out of high school during sophomore year.

Growing up in New York City, during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s, he has spoken about witnessing widespread instances of gang violence, theft, and poverty in society, which he largely avoided by working on plays, Off-Off-Broadway and arts programs.

In a particularly traumatic childhood experience, Bey witnessed his then five-year-old younger brother, Ilias Bey (born Denard Smith), get hit by a car.

Ilias later adopted the alias DCQ and was described by Bey as "my first partner in hip hop".

He launched his hip hop career in 1994, joining his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD) and on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul.

Bey began his music career in 1994, forming the group UTD (or Urban Thermo Dynamics) along with younger brother DCQ and high-school friend Ces.

In 1996, he and fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli formed Black Star, whose debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star featured the singles "Definition" and "Respiration".

In 1996, Bey 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.

Bey signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli.

The duo released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, in 1998.

Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the singles "Respiration" and "Definition", which both reached in the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

He released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides in 1999, then The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006), and The Ecstatic (2009).

His hits include "Oh No", "Ms. Fat Booty", and "Mathematics".

Bey released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999, also through Rawkus.

The single "Ms. Fat Booty" charted, while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200.

Around this time, he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie.

He hosted Def Poetry Jam from 2002 to 2007.

Bey has spoken out on several social and political causes, including police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the status of African Americans.

In January 2002, Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in October 2004.

It included contributions by Shuggie Otis and Bernie Worrell, Doug Wimbish, and Will Calhoun as the Black Jack Johnson Band.

The album reached #5 on the Billboard 200, making it the most successful for the artist to date.

The single "Sex, Love & Money" charted, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

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.

Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records, titled True Magic, was released in 2006.

On November 7, 2007, Bey 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.

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.

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, J. Dilla, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

In 2014, About.com listed him 14th on its "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time".

A former child actor in television films, sitcoms, and theater, Bey has appeared in the films 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.