Regarded as one of hip-hop's most introspective and insightful artists, Mos Def has shaped a career that transcends music genres and artistic medium. Taking a cue from the Afrocentric stylings of the Native Tongues crew, which included 'De La Soul' , on October 12th. The album was met with praise from both critics and fans alike, with Rolling Stone giving it 4 Stars and hailing the album as "Ghetto rock and righteous hip-hop from dazzingly talented Def" and the New York Daily News proclaimed "No one is doing more to change our notion of how hip hop can sound." The first single, "Sex, Love and Money' earned Def a 2005 Grammy nomination for Best Alternative/Urban Performance and the album was certified gold by the RIAA.
Name, Mos Def, is a slang term that means "most definitely."
Hip-hop artist.
His first music group was Urban Thermo Dynamics, which also included his younger brother and sister. They recorded an album in 1995 but it was shelved. It was finally released in 2004.
His name is quite appropriate in regards to his character in The Italian Job , who went deaf after blowing up a toilet.
Has starred in two movies with Alan Rickman : Something the Lord Made and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy .
Performed a song with Britsh artists Craig David that was only released on the radio. It was called 7 Days Later - a remix of Craig David s number 1 hit 7 Days.
Is a vegetarian.
In September 2011, he announced that he has adopted the name Yasiin Bey and will discontinue using the name Mos Def by the end of the year.
Appeared with Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie on Bill Mahers show. Christopher Hitchens humorously referred to him as "Mr Definitely" during the course of their debate.
In a video, as a protest he attempted to participate in the force feeding that is standard at Guantanamo Bay but stopped abruptly when it proved to be too much for him to handle.
