Mos Def

Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973) is a Brooklyn-born rapper and actor. He also goes by the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante, and Pretty F

Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973) is a Brooklyn-born rapper and actor. He also goes by the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante, and Pretty Flaco.

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 a full length album under the band name Black Star, entitled Black Star. It was released in 1998, with Hi-Tek producing most of the tracks. Mos Def released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides, in 1999. After the collapse of Rawkus, Def along with Kweli signed on to Interscope/Geffen Records, who released his second album The New Danger in 2004. In early 2005 Mos Def was rumored to join Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella record label, but this was later denied by the artist himself claiming "Jay-Z & Roc-A-Fella would never allow me to release songs I plan on putting out there. I ain't down with that commercial non-sense. I'm about to deal with the fake with my next album, from George Bush to 50 Cent." Mos Def is projected to release his last album on Geffen Records, The Undeniable Free Flaco in late 2005 or early 2006.