Freestyle 99 mos def biography
Mos Def
Birth name
Dante Terrell Smith
Died
December 11, 1973 (age 40)
Origin
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Years active
1994 - present
Label(s)
Rawkus, Priority, Geffen, Downtown, GOOD Music, DD172
Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and hip hop recording artist, better known by the stage names Mos Def /ˈmoʊs ˈdɛf/ and Yasiin Bey /jæˈsiːn ˈbeɪ/. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in late 1990s underground hip hop while with Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.
Although he was initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def's screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his acting work. He is well known for his parts in films Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "Be Kind Rewind", "The Italian Job", and his portrayal of Brother Sam in the American drama series Dexter. Mos Def has also been active in several social and political causes.
Early life[]
He was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman. He was raised by his mother in Brooklyn; his father lived in New Jersey. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation, Mos Def wa
BLACK STAR
Guts Live Band
Tank & The Bangas
Mos Def secured his popularity in 1998 with the famous Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998), a first album which arrived like a bombshell. Its minimalist production, steely sequences and street genius flows breathe new life into hip-hop. Common, supporting our two artists, also played a leading role. The name Mos Def obviously smacked too much of the streets of Brooklyn and the rapper soon renamed himself Yasiin Bey. Dante Terrell Smith (the name he was born with), aka Pretty Flaco and Black Dante, did not want any more pseudonyms:“It turns you into merchandise!” But for the fans, Black Star and indeed Black On Both Sides, Mos Def’s major work produced in 99 by DJ Premier, both remain indelibly etched in their memories. In 2000, the rapper appeared on Canal+ surrounded by musicians. The New Yorker’s liking for brass instruments then materialised (in 2007) at the Brooklyn Academy during a concert with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Gorillaz, Erykah Badu). The unexpected reunion of Mos Def, who is also often seen alongside pianist Robert Glasper, with Talib Kweli and this boisterous brass band (eight brass instruments and a set of drums) from Chicago is taking place at Vienne.
Line-up :
Blackstar Live Band : Yasiin Bey (MC), Talib Kweli (MC), Javon Chamers (DJ)
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble : Gabriel"Hudah" Hubert (tp), Saiph "Cid" Graves (tb), Amal "Body" Hubert (tp), Seba "Clef" Graves (tb), Tarik "Smoov" Graves (tp), Uttama "Rocco" Hubert (euphonium), Kevin Hunt (g), Aschim Bunch (b), Justin Swiney (dms)
Photo : © DR
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Image Credit
Marcus Ingram / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
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Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
Through a freestyle on Kanye West’s website in January 2016, Yasiin Bey announced his retirement from the music business. In a new interview, he reveals some reasons why.
“People can ask that question to Andre 3000. What is happening in the industry when some of the best and the brightest are just silent?” he asked. “I’m not talking about the cats born in the 80s, because they’re supposed to be running right now. When Three Stacks was 30 years old, he was out here bubbling too. You let him get a couple of C’s, he’s not going to be out here like that. Even Jay, he laid back for three or four years and got into a whole other thing before this 4:44 came out.
“Why is it that all of these cats is like, ‘hm, what’s up with the structure around our culture, which is unique to any other thing that’s happening in the world before or since it? Why we’re not hearing these voices? Why people don’t want to engage the industries like that? That’s a very good question. I think people know the answer.”
“But naturally, anybody with some sense – I don’t want to deal with that and bring that home to my family. Or bring that to myself. I don’t want my mom to inherit the fucking PTSD from running around in the rap game. The beefs, people can’t get along for longer 20 minutes. Everybody getting big bags of money but ‘you ain’t that, you ain’t this.’ Routing each other out on Instagram. What kind of shit is this?”
Yasiin Bey also seems to be upset with the role that technology has on music, and how so many platforms give music away without compensating artists in a way that he thinks is fair.
“I love the culture, but it looks like the technical process has surrounded it so that the only people who really benefit off of the culture are the algorithms,” he continued. “… The technical process has taken precedence over the content, and people have modified the c
Tomorrow, Mos Def, who now goes by his given name Yasiin Bey, will release an album called December 99th with Ferrari Shepard. Later this month, he will debut two additional albums. After that, he he will retire from rap.
The time is ripe to revisit Mos Def's creative peak in the late '90s in which he spoke on the black experience with the eloquence of James Baldwin. This list includes standouts from 1998's Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star and 1999's Black on Both Sides. Thrown in at the end for good measure is a small collection of his contributions to "Chappelle's Show" a few years later.
"Definition"
#TBT: Mos Def
The lead single off Black Star, "Definition" examines the violence that had just claimed the life of Biggie Smalls, life in Brooklyn for black folk, and the ways in which rap dreams are formed.
"Brown Skin Lady"
#TBT: Mos Def
In an interview with Spin, Mos explained how Black Star was formed:
"I’d done this 12-inch for 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! 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."
"Thieves in the Night"
#TBT: Mos Def
An extended reflection on how black life gets devalued. Mos Def's verse on "Thieves in the Night" is one of his most cel