Mos Def

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.