Mos Def

Regarded as one of the most insightful artists of our time, musician, activist and actor Mos Def has captured the attention of critics and audiences alike with a celebrated body of work that has crossed all artistic genres—from music to the Broadway stage, film and television. In 1996, Mos Def became an underground favorite in the hip hop world, which lead to the recording of “Black Star”, his legendary collaboration with Talib Kweli, whose debut release would become one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums of its generation. The following year Mos released his solo debut, “Black On Both Sides”, which was certified gold and credited by critics with bringing hip-hop back to its soapbox roots. His latest album, “The Ecstatic”, has been lauded by critics as one of the top albums of 2009 and has garnered two GRAMMY Award nominations in the categories Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for the single “Casa Bey.”

As with his music, Mos has demonstrated insight and passion with his acting career and has appeared in a variety of film and TV projects including Monster’s Ball, The Italian Job, and in the critically acclaimed HBO movie Something the Lord Made, for which he received nominations for a 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie, Golden Globe Award (Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture), and NAACP Award. Def has also appeared in the feature films The Woodsman, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), 16 Blocks (2006), Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (2006), Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind (2008), and Darnell Martin’s Cadillac Records (2008).

Mos completed his Broadway debut in 2002 in the Tony nominated, Pulitzer Prize winning, Topdog/Underdog and re-teamed with playwright, Suzan Lori Parks and director George Wolfe for the off- Broadway play, Fucking A, for which he was awarded an Obie Award.

In addition to his acting credits Mos has served as the host, music supervisor and co executive producer for the HBO series Def Poetry, which returned for its sixth season in 2007. Def has also served as a writer, producer and actor on the MTV sketch comedy series Lyricist Lounge.

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