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Oct 12, 1999 · Rock N Roll. Yasiin Bey. Track 10 on Black on Both Sides. Producers. Psycho Les & Yasiin Bey. This song is a criticism of white appropriation of black music. It links how blacks' role in...
The following is a list of songs by Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) organized by alphabetical order. The songs on the list are all included in official label-released albums , soundtracks and singles , but not white label or other non-label releases.
Yasiin Bey, (born Dante Terrell Smith) formerly known by his stage name Mos Def, is an actor and hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York.
The discography of Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, an American rapper, consists of four solo albums, two compilation albums, and several singles.
- Early Life
- Musical Career
- Acting Career
- Social and Political Views
- Legacy
- Personal Life
- External Links
Mos Def 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 M...
1994–1998: Beginnings with Rawkus and Black Star
Mos Def 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 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. In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal...
1999–2006: Solo career and various projects
Mos Def 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. 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...
2007–2011: GOOD Music era and name change
On November 7, 2007, Mos Def 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. Th...
Beginnings as child actor
Prior to his career in music, Mos Def entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television movies, sitcoms and theater, some of which were under the name Dante Beze. At the age of 14, he appeared in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham, which aired on ABC in 1988. He played the oldest child in the 1990 family sitcom You Take the Kids shortly before it was cancelled. In 1995 he played the character Dante, Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detecti...
Feature films
After brief appearances in Bamboozled and Monster's Ball, Mos Def played a rapper who is reluctant to sign to a major label in Brown Sugar. He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award. In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hoperaas Lt. Miller, a crooked cop. In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright...
In 2000, paired with Talib Kweli, Mos Def organized the Hip Hop for Respect project to speak out against police brutality. The project was created in response to the 1999 police shooting of Amadu Diallo, and sought to accumulate 41 artists to the roster, one to match each of the 41 gunshots fired on Diallo. Mos Def is well known for his liberal act...
About.com ranked him #14 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time, while The Source ranked him #23 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. AllMusic called him one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late 1990s, as well as one of hip-hop's brightest hopes entering the 21st century. Mos Def has influenced numerous hip hop art...
Mos Def married Maria Yepes in 1996. He filed for divorce from Yepes in 2006. The former couple made headlines when Yepes took Mos Def to court over failure in child-support obligations, paying $2,000 short of the monthly $10,000 he is ordered to pay.Mos Def has four other children. His mother Sheron Smith, who goes by her nickname "Umi", has playe...
Mos Def / Dante Smith discographies at Discogs.Mos Def at IMDbDec 9, 2016 · XXL takes the time to go through Yasiin Bey's catalog to pull out 20 of his best songs.
People also ask
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Apr 5, 2023 · The song "Rock N Roll" by Yasiin Bey is a tribute to black music and its powerful legacy throughout American history. Bey emphasizes his roots as a descendant of enslaved people, who sang songs to inspire and comfort each other through their terrible circumstances.
