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1988- Stars in his first film. He played Richard Watkins in 'God Bless the Child', an aspirational child who hopes to be the first member of his family to graduate from High School.

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In 1995, Mos Def played Dante, Cosby's sidekick in the short-running detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. The show did very poorly, but it did not deter Mos Def from pursuing a career in cinema.

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Mos Def portrayed Chuck Berry in the 2008 biographical drama film, Cadillac Records. His performance was praised by film critics and was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an NAACP Image Award.

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Mos Def won his first acting accolade in 2005 for his role as Detective Sgt. Lucas in 'The Woodsman'.

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2004- Mos Def stars alongside Alan Rickman as cardiac pioneer Vivien Thomas. Perhaps his most acclaimed acting performance, he garnered widespread praise and won an NAACP Image Award, while also being nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

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This clip sees Mos Def as Chuck Berry on stage performing 'No Particular Place To Go'. An accurate portrayal of Berry, from the vocal style to the famous 'duck walk'.

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Cadillac Records (2008) - Maybelline Scene (7/10) | Movieclips

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This shocking video shows him undergoing standard procedure for force feeding detainees at Guantánamo Bay. He volunteered to do this in order to raise awareness of the ill treatment of detainees, particularly during the month of Ramadan in which muslims fast.

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Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure

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While being heralded as one of the most talented lyricists in hip-hop, Mos Def is also known for his talent in improvisational rap- sometimes referred to as 'freestyling'.

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In this interview with GQ's Mark Anthony Green, Mos Def states:

"I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I’ve been going by Yasiin since ’99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I’m declaring it openly."

It is interesting that he wants to stray away from the name 'Mos Def' because he feels it has made him something of a commodity. This public name change goes hand in hand with his retirement from music and film in an effort to alter his image.

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Hip-hop's most thoughtful MC goes by a new name-Yasiin Bey. But what's really evolved is his style: a genre-crashing, bohemian mix of influences from Savile Row to Michael Jackson

Mos Def may have made his name spitting rhymes, but Yasiin Bey remade himself by working his lines on TV (last season's Dexter), on Broadway ( A Free Man of Color), and now in fashion-he's a collaborator at N.Y.C. shop Ale et Ange (where the jacket, shirt, hat, and pants he's wearing come from). Here the Brooklyn lyricist talks about how he experiments with his look just as much as he does with his résumé.
A Mos by Any Other Name...
"I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I've been going by Yasiin since '99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly."
Paying Homage
"When my paternal grandfather passed a few years back, I started to wear a shirt and tie every day, like he did. Michael Jackson's death had a big impact on me, too. Right before the Ecstatic tour in 2009, I began wearing loafers and high-waisted pants. And that's where my look started."
Honest Goods
"Hip-hop is the last true folk art. I got involved with Ale et Ange because it represents hip-hop in a way that isn't pandering. It's nice to see something that's elegant, skillful, and raw."
Power Suits
"With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know?"
Mix-n-Sorta-Match
"I like drawing connections between pieces and patterns that would make someone else think, 'Those two things would never go together.' Well, to me they do."
So Fresh, So Clean
"I don't have advice for people on how to dress. People should dress based on what they find beautiful. My best advice: Keep your clothes clean."
Check out the video here

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Hip-hop's most thoughtful MC goes by a new name-Yasiin Bey. But what's really evolved is his style: a genre-crashing, bohemian mix of influences from Savile Row to Michael Jackson Mos Def may have made his...

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Mos Def released 4 solo albums during the remainder of his music career. They varied in musical style and arrangement but the lyrical content and theme remained consistent- social issues and activism.

Spin magazine described his debut album, 'Black On Both Sides' as "playful, witty and heart-pounding." This quote seems to perfectly summise his style- he discusses important topics but does so in a laidback with sharp lyricism and wit, almost entrancing the listener while also educating them on serious issues.

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Complex rhyme-schemes

Intelligent vocabulary and lyricism

Socially and Politically conscious

Talented singer as well as rapper

Combined multiple genres

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In many of the roles he plays, Mos Def is a strong black man who had to stand up against adversity. Perhaps he plays so many of these kinds of roles is because he feels that he can relate to them on a personal level and that helps him give a better performance.

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Mos Def began his music career as an unsigned solo rapper. This 1996 song by Bush Babees was his first official feature and it was as a result of this song and its success that he was able to secure a record deal with New York's Rawkus Records.

He sang the chorus in this song and the lyrics and tone of his voice have an obvious 'feel good' aura about them.

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Bush Babees Ft Mos Def - The Love Song 1996

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In this interview, Mos Def explains why he has decided to support the Made in Africa Foundation.

He states that for too long, Africa' resources have "benefitted everyone but Africa".

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In his appearance on Bill Maher's TV show, Mos Def expresses annoyance at the uproar following 9/11 and the Iraq War, claiming that the United States have no business being involved in Middle Eastern conflicts. He also argues that islamic extremism does not pose as great a threat to his life than 'growing up in the projects'.

Well known for his outspoken criticism of the American government and judicial system, particularly during the war on terror- when Bill Maher provocatively asks him "Do you want to be blown up by a bomb?" he responds quickly with "I'm black in America- I live under constant pressure."

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S.O.S. featured Mos Def's first verse and it is clear to see that at his young age, unexperienced with regard to professional music production, he was a gifted lyricist and 'emcee'.

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Mos Def's 1996 collaboration with De La Soul significantly helped kickstart his career in music.

He was beginning to gain a reputation as a desirable feature artist who was able to write and perform a verse/chorus that was lighthearted and fun while simultaneously having a deeper meaning and provoking the audience to think.

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De La Soul - Big Brother Beat (Official Audio) ft. Mos Def

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1998 saw Mos Def feature on A Tribe Called Quest's 'Rock Rock Y'all.

The fact that he was able to produce a song with A Tribe Called Quest, who are titans of rap music and pioneers of the jazz rap genre demonstrates the growing image of Mos Def as a serious and talented rapper.

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Mos Def is proven to speak out against injustices. While his rap music often deals with social issues, he also has appeared on television, in interviews and at public demonstrations to express his views.

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A selection of things Mos Def has spoken out against:

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A selection of things Mos Def has spoken out against:

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1. Police brutality

2. Institutional racism

3. Guantánamo Bay detention camp

4. The Bush Administration

5. Nuclear Weapons

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Critical reading of the force feeding demonstration

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Critical reading of the force feeding demonstration

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Not everyone saw Mos Def's force feeding demonstration as the remarkable event that it may seem to be. The video has come under criticism, with some saying that elements of the video were distracting and that simply seeing Mos Def undergo this procedure was not sufficiently moving or distressing. The most notable criticism is that Mos Def is a celebrity and none of the Guantánamo Bay detainees are. In this text, Guillermo Rebollo Gil writes that 'what makes it difficult to watch is that contrary to the faceless hunger strikes, I recognise Mos Def.'

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Before his death after ten years of detention in the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, the prisoner Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif wrote a poem in which he asked, "Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?" This chapter considers his question in the context of the video 'Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) Force Fed Under Standard Guantánamo Bay Procedure,' which has over six million views on YouTube. Offering a close, critical reading of the video set against the backdrop of contemporary police violence against African American men, it explores the limits of representations of violence while also explaining Guantánamo's hold as a metaphor that links the still-unseen bodies of detainees to the hyper-visible dead bodies of black American men.

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The Many Bodies of Mos Def: Notes for an Unremarkable Poem on Failure

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Before his death after ten years of detention in the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, the prisoner Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif wrote a poem in which he asked, "Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?" This chapter considers his question in...

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Mos Def converted to Islam at the age of 19. Prior to this, he was not especially knowledgable of religion, despite his father being a member of the Nation of Islam and a follower of Warith Deen Mohammed.

Mos Def can be quoted to have said "You are not going to get through your life without being devoted to something. The best way for me to spend my life is to try and become devotedto prayer, to Allah."

It is clear to see that his faith is a divining factor of his life and that he devotes himself to Islam.

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American Rapper "Mos Def" aka Yasiin Bey's Journey to Islam

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In 2000, Mos Def missed the Grammy awards ceremony despite being nominated for several awards. He chose instead to conduct an interview with FADER magazine wherein he criticises the racism in the music industry surrounding the sales issue. In his words, "white artists do less and get more."

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2005 saw Mos Def being cast to play Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Prefect is an eccentric character with an offbeat and dark sense of humour- also the best friend of the main protagonist, Arthur Dent.

This is undoubtedly the biggest, most successful film Mos Def has starred in. He appeared on screen alongside huge Hollywood stars such as Martin Freeman, John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.

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As Mos Def's image grew as a titan of hip hop, he was cast in several roles in which he played a character who would poke fun at the music industry and hip hop particularly.

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In Spike Lee's 'Bamboozled', Mos Def plays the frontman in a rap group. In this role he pokes fun at several rap stereotypes, for example he is smoking cannabis, wearing baggy clothes and drinking Hennessy whiskey. Throughout his career, he has typically been seen to discuss socio-political matters in his songs rather than conform to hip hop stereotypes, as he highlights with this role.

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Bamboozled clip with Mos Def & Charli - Blak iz Blak

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In 1998, Mos Def joined with fellow Brooklyn rapper, Talib Kweli to create the rap duo 'Black Star'. They took their name from the shipping line founded by Pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey (Black Star Line).

The album, which deals with racial inequality, philosophical ideas and sociopolitical issues, was released to critical acclaim, particularly songs such as 'Respiration' and 'Definition'.

The style and lyrical content showcased on the album was a far cry from the 'gangsta rap' which dominated the mainstream hip hop charts and helped cement Mos Def as a star in hip hop.

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True Magic (2006)

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In January of 2016, Mos Def abruptly announced that he wpuld be retiring from music and cinema via his friend and associate Kanye West's website, saying "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." The final album he mentions is still yet to be released.

Since this announcement, he has not appeared in any films, but he has made numerous features on songs by other artists, for example on the title track of Kanye West and Kid Cudi's collaborative album, 'Kids See Ghosts'.

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In 2000, alongside his long-time collaborator, Talib Kweli, Mos Def organised the Hip Hop for Respect project- a benefit album. It was made in response to the 1999 police shooting of Amad Diallo, an unarmed black man. Diallo was shot 41 times, fatally wounding him. Eye-witnesses claim that the police officers continued shooting despite the fact that Diallo was already motionless on the ground. The album consisted of verses from 41 rappers, to represent the number of bullets fired at Diallo.

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Mos Def did not attend the 2005 MTV Music Awards, instead opting to wait until the ceremony was about to begin, hire a flatbed truck to drive him to Radio City Music Hall, where the show was taking place and perform 'Katrina Clap' on the back of the truck. A crowd quickly gathered around him and he was arrested on site.

'Katrina Clap' is a protest song written by Mos Def in response to the Bush Administration's lack of action with regard to Hurricane Katrina and its effect on the African American population.

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Mos Def has often cited the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal as an example of racial inequality in the United States. In 1982, Jamal was sentenced to death for the murder of Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner the previous year.

Mos Def performed several benefit concerts to raise awareness for the situation Jamal was in and his treatment by the authorities. Resultantly, in 2011 Jamal had his sentence changed to life imprisonment and was moved to general prison population.

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Although he is best known as Mos Def, he was born Dante Terrell Smith. He chose the moniker 'Mos Def' (shorthand for "most definitely") as his stage name when he first starting rapping.

In his later life, chose to legally change his name to Yasiin Bey. Yasiin is a name in the Qur'an's 36th surah and was chosen by Mos Def due to the importance Islam holds to him, after having converted in his late teens.

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Fashionable, well dressed

Intelligent

Politically engaged

Opinionated

Truth-seeking

An activist

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While many rappers appear to make headlines for all the wrong reasons (Kanye West, Eminem etc.), Mos Def seemingly comes across as an activist and a critic of higher powers when he appears in the media.

His left-wing views and activism strike a chord with likeminded people and extend his audience.

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Name change

Outspoken criticism of George Bush

Force-feeding experiment

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Louis Vuitton

Sprite

Visa

Nike