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Mos Def is a Actor American born on 11 december 1973 at New York City (USA)

Mos Def

Mos Def
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Birth name Dante Terrell Smith
Nationality USA
Birth 11 december 1973 (50 years) at New York City (USA)

Yasiin Bey (/jæˈsiːn ˈbeɪ/; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), better known by his former stage name Mos Def (/ˈmoʊs ˈdɛf/), is an American hip hop recording artist, actor, comedian, and activist from Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Best known for his music, Mos Def embarked on his hip hop career in 1994, alongside his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. He subsequently formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and released their eponymous debut album in 1998. He was a major force in late-1990s underground hip hop while under Rawkus Records. In 1999, Mos Def released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides, under Rawkus and Priority Records. His debut was followed by The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006) and The Ecstatic (2009).

Prior to his career in music, Mos Def first entered public light as a child actor, having played roles in television movies, sitcoms, and theater, some of which were under the name Dante Beze. At the age of 14, he appeared in the TV movie God Bless the Child, which aired on ABC in 1988. He played the oldest child in the 1990 family sitcom You Take the Kids, shortly before it was cancelled. In 1995, he played the character "Dante" in The Cosby Mysteries. Since the early 2000s, Mos Def is well known for his roles in films such as Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job, Bamboozled and Brown Sugar, as well as for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the Showtime drama series Dexter. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 2002 and 2007.

Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism, and the state of black Americans.

Biography

Mos Def has six children with four women, including two with his first wife Maria Yepes.

Mos Def married Maria Yepes in 1996, and has two daughters with her: Jauhara Smith and Chandani Smith. He filed for divorce from Yepes in 2006. The former couple made headlines when Yepes took Mos Def to court over failure in child-support obligations, paying $2,000 short of the monthly $10,000 he is ordered to pay.

On August 17, 2005, Mos Def traveled to Canada where he married music video model Alana Wyatt. Following a tumultuous relationship, the couple separated soon thereafter, but have not yet divorced. Wyatt published a tell-all book "Breaking The Code Of Silence" in January 2012.

His mother Sheron Smith, who goes by her nickname "Umi", has played an active role managing portions of her son's career. She is also a motivational speaker, and has authored the book Shine Your Light: A Life Skills Workbook, where she details her experience as a single-mother raising Mos Def.

Best films

The Italian Job (2003)
(Actor)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
(Actor)
16 Blocks (2006)
(Actor)

Usually with

Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
(1 films)
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
(2 films)
Common
Common
(5 films)
Adam McKay
Adam McKay
(1 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Mos Def (35 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

French Tour, 1h35
Directed by Rachid Djaïdani
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies
Actors Gérard Depardieu, Sadek, Louise Grinberg, Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Mabô Kouyaté, Stéphane Soo Mongo
Roles Focé
Rating56% 2.8473552.8473552.8473552.8473552.847355
Après un règlement de comptes, Far’Hook, jeune rappeur de 20 ans, est contraint de quitter Paris pour se « mettre au vert » quelque temps. Sur les conseils de son producteur Bilal, il va accompagner le père de ce dernier, Serge, pour faire le tour des ports de France, sur les traces du peintre Claude Joseph Vernet (auteur notamment de la série Vues des ports de France). Bilal s'est éloigné de son père à cause de sa religion, l'islam, la même que celle de Far’Hook... Malgré leurs différences, le jeune rappeur prometteur et le maçon taciturne du Nord vont peu à peu se lier d'amitié. Ils vont accomplir un long périple, qui les mènera jusqu'à Marseille, pour un concert.
Amy
Amy (2015)
, 2h8
Directed by Asif Kapadia
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Biography, Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Amy Winehouse, Mos Def, Tony Bennett, Russell Brand, Jay Leno, Frankie Boyle
Roles Self
Rating77% 3.8975953.8975953.8975953.8975953.897595
Dotée d’un talent unique au sein de sa génération, Amy Winehouse a immédiatement capté l’attention du monde entier. Authentique artiste jazz, elle se servait de ses dons pour l’écriture et l’interprétation afin d’analyser ses propres failles. Cette combinaison de sincérité à l’état brut et de talent ont donné vie à certaines des chansons les plus populaires de notre époque. Mais l’attention permanente des médias et une vie personnelle compliquée associées à un succès planétaire et un mode de vie instable ont fait de la vie d’Amy Winehouse un château de cartes à l’équilibre précaire.Le grand public a célébré son immense succès tout en jugeant à la hâte ses faiblesses. Ce talent si salvateur pour elle a fini par être la cause même de sa chute. Avec les propres mots d’Amy Winehouse et des images inédites, Asif Kapadia nous raconte l’histoire de cette incroyable artiste, récompensée par six Grammy Awards.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1h43
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Animation, Comic science fiction
Themes Films about animals, Films about music and musicians, Sports films, Films about terrorism, Comedy science fiction films, Martial arts films, Mise en scène d'une tortue, Superhero films, Musical films, Children's films, Reptile
Actors Megan Fox, Pete Ploszek, Noel Roeim Fisher, Pete Ploszek, Johnny Knoxville, Jeremy Howard
Rating58% 2.9017752.9017752.9017752.9017752.901775
April O'Neil (Megan Fox), a reporter for Channel 6 Eyewitness News in New York City, investigates a crime wave by criminals called the Foot Clan. At a dock at night, she sees the Foot raiding cargo containers. After an unseen vigilante attacks the thieves, April notices a symbol left behind. April's supervisor Bernadette Thompson (Whoopi Goldberg) and her coworkers are oblivious to her story. Later while covering a charity event thrown by Sacks Industries, April expresses gratitude to the company's CEO Eric Sacks (William Fichtner), who was her late father's (Paul Fitzgerald) lab partner.
Begin Again, 1h41
Directed by John Carney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener, Mos Def
Roles Saul
Rating73% 3.697773.697773.697773.697773.69777
Dan Mulligann (Mark Ruffalo) is a formerly successful record label executive living in New York City who is estranged from his wife Miriam and struggling to keep up with the changing music industry. After being fired from his job, he goes on a drinking binge which leads him to a bar in the Lower East Side where he encounters Gretta James (Keira Knightley). Gretta is a young and fiercely independent songwriter who has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend and songwriting partner Dave Kohl (Adam Levine), a newly successful musician who had an affair with one of his producers' assistants. Captivated by Gretta's music, Dan offers to sign her to his former record label, and although she initially refuses she reconsiders the offer and agrees.
Life of Crime, 1h34
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Comedy-drama, Comedy thriller, Crime
Actors Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Tim Robbins, Mos Def, Will Forte, Isla Fisher
Roles Ordell Robbie
Rating57% 2.8992352.8992352.8992352.8992352.899235
Stoic socialite Mickey Dawson becomes the target of an ill-planned kidnapping plot by a pair of fumbling ex-cons, Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara, looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. However, things quickly become complicated for the duo when they discover her wealthy husband, Frank, refuses to pay the ransom, as he is on the cusp of filing for divorce to make way for his younger mistress, Melanie Ralston. The two kidnappers have to figure out how to quickly turn the tables on their predicament before their time runs out.
Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
Directed by Ice-T
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Hip hop films, Musical films
Actors Ice-T, B-Real, Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, Common, Dr. Dre
Roles Self
Rating70% 3.544273.544273.544273.544273.54427
A travers les témoignages des plus grandes figures du rap telles que Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mos Def, Kanye West, ce documentaire explore les racines et l'histoire du Rap ainsi que le processus créatif de cette forme artistique dominante.
I'm Still Here, 1h48
Directed by Casey Affleck
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Musical
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Hip hop films
Actors Joaquin Phoenix, Sean Combs, Casey Affleck, Ben Stiller, Eddie Rouse, Mos Def
Roles Mos Def
Rating61% 3.098483.098483.098483.098483.09848
In 2008 while rehearsing for a charity event, actor Joaquin Phoenix, with Casey Affleck's camera watching, tells people he's quitting to pursue a career in rap music. Over the next year, we watch the actor write, rehearse, and perform to an audience. He importunes Sean Combs in hopes he'll produce the record. We see the actor in his home: he parties, smokes, bawls out his two-man entourage, talks philosophy with Affleck, and comments on celebrity. I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the documentary follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
Bouncing Cats, 1h15
Directed by Nabil Elderkin
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films set in Africa, Dance films, Films about children, Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Hip hop films, Musical films
Actors Common, Mos Def
Rating78% 3.9214653.9214653.9214653.9214653.921465
Bouncing Cats is the story of one man's attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using the unlikely tool of hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdance. Abraham "Abramz" Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy and an AIDS orphan creates a free workshop teaching youth b-boy culture to 300 disenfranchised kids living in precarious conditions in Kampala in 2006, and in Gulu in North Uganda. Uganda is often referred to as one of the worst places on earth to be a child.
Next Day Air, 1h24
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Films about music and musicians, Hip hop films, Gangster films
Actors Donald Faison, Wood Harris, Mike Epps, Omari Hardwick, Darius McCrary, Yasmin Deliz
Roles Eric
Rating56% 2.8478052.8478052.8478052.8478052.847805
Leo works for Next Day Air (NDA), a package delivery company, but is going to get fired for any more mistakes. While delivering a package addressed to Jesus in apartment 303, Leo accidentally delivers it to apartment 302. Before Leo can leave Jesus asks if Leo has the package and gets worried when he is empty handed. Guch and Brody, two inept criminals, open the package and find ten bricks of cocaine hidden in a clay pot. Brody remembers that his cousin, Shavoo, has cut cocaine before. Shavoo and his partner, Buddy, come to Guch's apartment and settle on $15,000 a brick.
Cadillac Records, 1h49
Directed by Darnell Martin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Le blues, Musical films
Actors Adrien Brody, Beyoncé, Jeffrey Wright, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Cedric the Entertainer, Mos Def
Roles Chuck Berry
Rating70% 3.501053.501053.501053.501053.50105
Leonard Chess, a Polish immigrant of Jewish descent, starts the record label Chess Records in Chicago in 1950. It opens its doors for black musicians and attracts people such as Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Walter and Etta James.
In Prison My Whole Life, 1h39
Directed by Marc Evans
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Documentary
Themes Prison films, Films about terrorism, Documentary films about law, Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Documentary films about terrorism, Political films, Films about capital punishment, Documentary films about law enforcement
Actors Mos Def, Snoop Dogg
Roles Self
Rating66% 3.334323.334323.334323.334323.33432
Au moment même où William Francome nait, le 9 décembre 1981, un homme est arrêté pour le meurtre d’un policier de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique. Cet homme est noir, journaliste et ancien Black Panther. Il s’appelle Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Be Kind Rewind, 1h42
Directed by Michel Gondry
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Sigourney Weaver
Roles Mike
Rating63% 3.199343.199343.199343.199343.19934
In Passaic, New Jersey, the declining "Be Kind Rewind" VHS rental store owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) is due to be demolished to make way for high-end development (due in large part to the refusal of Mr. Fletcher to rent out DVDs) unless he can find the money to renovate his building, despite his claims that jazz pianist Fats Waller was born in that building. Mr. Fletcher leaves on a trip for several days to join friends and memorialize Waller, leaving his only employee, Mike (Mos Def), to tend to the store. Before leaving Mr. Fletcher cautions Mike to keep his paranoid and klutzy friend, Jerry (Jack Black), away from the store. After attempting to sabotage a nearby electrical substation, believing its energy to be melting his brain, Jerry becomes magnetized, and when he enters the store the next day, he inadvertently erases all the VHS tapes in the store (as well as making the camera go out of focus, whenever he walks past it). Mike quickly discovers the disaster, and is further pressed when Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), Mr. Fletcher's friend, wants to rent Ghostbusters. To prevent her from reporting a problem to Mr. Fletcher, Mike comes up with an idea: as Miss Falewicz has never seen the movie, he proposes to recreate the film using himself and Jerry as the actors and cheap special effects hoping to fool her. They complete the movie just in time when another customer asks for Rush Hour 2. Mike and Jerry repeat their filming, enlisting the help of Alma (Melonie Diaz), a local woman, for some of the parts.
16 Blocks
16 Blocks (2006)
, 1h45
Directed by Richard Donner
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Actors Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse, Jenna Stern, Cylk Cozart, David Zayas
Roles Eddie Bunker (as Mos Def)
Rating65% 3.2988553.2988553.2988553.2988553.298855
Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is an alcoholic, burned-out N.Y.P.D. detective. Despite a late shift the night before, his lieutenant orders him to escort a witness, Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), from local custody to the courthouse 16 blocks away to testify on a police corruption case before a grand jury at 10 a.m. Bunker tries to be friendly with Mosley, telling him of his aspirations to move to Seattle to become a cake baker with his sister whom he has never met, but Mosley is uninterested, and stops at a liquor store. They are suddenly ambushed by a gunman, and Mosley drags Bunker to a local bar to take shelter and call for backup. Mosley's former partner, Frank Nugent (David Morse), and several other officers arrive. Nugent and his men have ulterior motives, telling Mosley that Bunker is not worth defending as his testimony will likely out several officers, including Nugent, who are involved in the corruption scheme, and they try to frame Bunker for firing at an officer before they kill him. Mosley intervenes, rescuing Bunker and fleeing.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 1h48
Directed by Adam McKay
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action
Themes Films about sexuality, Sports films, Transport films, LGBT-related films, Films about automobiles, Auto racing films, Road movies, La NASCAR, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bill Hader
Roles Mos Def
Rating65% 3.299173.299173.299173.299173.29917
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR driver who wants to go fast. While he was working on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver Terry Cheveaux (Adam McKay), Ricky replaces him and ends up finishing in third place, despite starting mid-race in last place. Ricky quickly soars to the top of NASCAR by achieving his fame and fortune at Dennit Racing and meeting his future wife, Carly (Leslie Bibb). Ricky eventually persuades Dennit to field an additional car and arranges to have his best friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), on his team. While he and Cal are on top of the racing world, Ricky challenges his flamboyant French Formula One archrival, Jean Girard (Sacha Barone Cohen), who outperforms him on the track and becomes Dennit Racing's next top driver. Desperate to regain his dominance, Ricky pushes himself too hard during the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and ends up going airborne, barrel-rolling several times.