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Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Stanley Schmitt. He has younger brothers -- Abdul Rahman, a.k.a. "Gold Medal Man," who is Mos' full-time DJ, and Anwar Superstar, famous for his collaboration with world renowned electronica DJ's The Chemical Brothers on their 2006 Grammy-winning album Push The Button, for the politically charged song "Left Right" (Astralwerks), and for his most recent collaboration with Mos Def on the song titled "Here Comes The Champ," featured on the critically acclaimed video game soundtrack for NBA 2K7 produced by Dan The Automator, (Dan The Automator Presents: NBA 2K7); DCQ (Medina Green, Cross Town Beef). He has a younger sister, Ces. He also has a younger brother, Jermone, who was the first in his family to graduate from high school and enter college. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon for school. Mos Def grew up during the golden age of hip-hop and has been rapping and acting since he was 9 years old

Mos Def began his music career in 1996 in the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite their contract with Payday Records, the group only released two singles, and their debut album Manifest Destiny was not released until 2004, when it was distributed by Illson Media. In 1996, he emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal Magnetic," which was a huge underground hit. Mos Def has drawn some criticism from his fan base about "keeping it real" after he appeared in a commercial that endorsed the GMC Denali sport utility vehicle.[4] Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records,True Magic, was quietly released on December 29, 2006. 2007 saw the release of another solo album: Mos Definite. This album was released under the Frequent M (Groove Attack) label.

Mos Def's background in film and theater date back to his days at New York University, studying experimental theater. He began his professional acting career at the age of 14, appearing in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham. He then played the oldest child in the short-lived family sitcom, You Take the Kids, starring Nell Carter and Roger E. Mosley. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. He also starred in a 1996 Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders

Mos Def's background in film and theater date back to his days at New York University, studying experimental theater. He began his professional acting career at the age of 14, appearing in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham. He then played the oldest child in the short-lived family sitcom, You Take the Kids, starring Nell Carter and Roger E. Mosley. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. He also starred in a 1996 Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders.

In recent shows Mos Def has played new songs from his album said to be named "The Ecstatic." He has shown crowds tracks written and produced by Madlib and has rumored to be going to Kanye Westfor new material. The album is said to be released in April 2008; producer and fellow Def Poet Al Be Back has revealed that he would be producing as well, and that Mos is "four or five records in" to the album. In April Mos appeared on the title track for a new album by The Roots entitled Rising Down.