Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on September 12, 1973) is an American hip hop recording artist, actor, and writer. He is known for his work as a founding member of the rap group Rhyme Syndicate. As part of their act, he was known as Yasiin Bey (Yasiin Bey is Mos Def spelled backwards), and released several songs under that moniker.
He has also released four solo albums: "Black on Both Sides" (1998), "The New Danger" (2000), "The New Danger: The Final Chapter" (2001) and "The Ecstatic" (2006).
He was featured on songs by other artists including Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind", Jurassic 5's "I Want Off" and Mos Def's "West Savannah".
Mos Def is also featured on the songs of other rappers such as Talib Kweli ("Get By") and Freeway ("Make It Rain").
He has often worked with other hip hop artists, most notably Kanye West
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Their combination has been called Yasiin Bey, which is the name his fans call him by.
His songs have appeared in films which include Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems", Dr. Dre's "California Love", Eminem's "Stan", Xzibit's "X", Common's "Be" and Nick Cannon's Pink House.
He also appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV as an Internet radio host for Liberty City Hardcore Radio, along with DJ Green Lantern.