Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on 11 December 1973 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American hip hop artist and actor. He also goes by the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante, A White Man’s Favorite Rapper and Pretty Flaco.

Rap career:

Mos Def began his performing career on the television show The Cosby Mysteries in 1994. In 1994, Mos also began his music career, forming the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite being signed to Payday Records, the group only released two singles and the group’s debut album, Manifest Destiny, did not see the light of day until 2004 when released through Illson Media. In 1996 he emerged as a solo artist, working with De La Soul and da Bush Babees before releasing his own first single, “Universal Magnetic” which was a huge underground hit. After signing with Rawkus Records, he and Talib Kweli released a full length ... read more »