As a musician, he came to fame as one half of the Conscious Hip Hop group Black Star (not to be confused with the David Bowie album), before releasing his solo debut, Black on Both Sides in 1999.
As an actor, he initially worked as a child under the name Dante Beze, starring in the sitcom You Take The Kids and playing Dante, Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective series The Cosby Mysteries. As an adult, credited as Mos Def, he found success particularly in The Noughties, appearing in films such as Bamboozled, Monster's Ball, The Italian Job (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and Be Kind Rewind, and in the recurring role of Brother Sam in Season 6 of Dexter, as well as providing the voice for Gangstalicious in The Boondocks.
Discography:
Solo Albums
- Black on Both Sides (1999)
- The New Danger (2004)
- True Magic (2006)
- The Ecstatic (2009)
- Negus (2019)note
Collaborative Albums
- Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (1998)
- Manifest Destiny (with Ces and DCQ, as UTD) (1998)
- December 99th (with Ferrari Sheppard, as Dec 99th) (2016)
- No Fear of Time (with Talib Kweli, as Black Star) (2022)
Selected filmography:
- Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997) as Dante
- Bamboozled (2000) as Big Blak Afrika
- Carmen: A Hip-Hopera (2001) as Lt. Miller
- Monster's Ball (2001) as Ryrus Cooper
- Showtime (2002) as Lazy Boy
- My Wife and Kids (2002) as Tommy (1 episode)
- The Italian Job (2003) as Left Ear
- The Woodsman (2004) as Detective Lucas
- The Boondocks (2005-08) as Gangstalicious (voice)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) as Ford Prefect
- 16 Blocks (2006) as Eddie Bunker
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) as himself (cameo)
- Be Kind Rewind (2008) as Mike
- House (2009) as Lee (1 episode)
- Yo Gabba Gabba! (2010) as Super Mr. Superhero
- Dexter (2011) as Brother Sam (5 episodes)
- Begin Again (2013) as Saul
Trope Examples
- The Cameo: As himself in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
- Conscious Hip Hop: Considered one of the founding figures of the genre.
- Cover Version: Recorded covers of Chuck Berry's "No Particular Place To Go" and "Maybellene" for the soundtrack of Cadillac Records, in which he played him; and of Fats Waller's "I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares for Me)", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Your Feet's Too Big" for the soundtrack of Be Kind Rewind, in which his character plays Waller in-universe.
- Face on the Cover: All of his solo albums except The Ecstatic.
- I Have Many Names: At different points in his career, he has been known as Mos Def, Yasiin Bey, Dante Beze, Black Dante and Pretty Flacko (which became "Pretty Flacko Senior" when he collaborated on the song "Back Home" with the younger rapper A$AP Rocky, who also calls himself "Pretty Flacko", and has become far more associated with the name than Mos has).
- Record Producer: He is one himself, and has produced songs on all his solo albums, in addition to working with the likes of 88-Keys, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Kanye West, The Neptunes and Madlib (who was also the sole producer on No Fear Of Time).
- Sampling:
- "Mathematics" primarily takes its instrumental from "Baby I'm-a Want You" by The Fatback Band, along with vocal samples from artists including James Brown, Erykah Badu and Mos Def himself.
- "Ms. Fat Booty" chops up "One Step Ahead" by Aretha Franklin.
- "The Rape Over" uses Jay-Z's "Takeover" as a Take That! against the music industry more broadly.
- Soprano and Gravel: Within Black Star, he's the gravel to Talib Kweli's soprano.
