Spring Break
Spring concert? Mos Def.
by Jon Fischer
Arts | 3/15/05
Posted online at 5:15 AM EST on 3/15/05
After that group dissolved, Mos Def was invited to join the Native Tongues crew and he appeared in songs by members De La Soul and Bush Babees. This provided the impetus for his rise in New York's underground hip-hop community and he soon became a regular performer at the famous Lyricist Lounge. He first collaborated with Talib Kweli in 1996 on the single "Fortified Live."
Mos Def and Talib Kweli were thrust into the national spotlight two years later with Black Star, named after black nationalist Marcus Garvey's Black Star shipping line. As its namesake suggests, the record sought to infuse the hip-hop community with a political conscience absent since the early days of Public Enemy, as well as to counteract the violence, negativity and even the pop sheen prevalent at the time.
One year later, Mos Def released his critically-acclaimed solo debut Black on Both Sides, which elaborated on Black Star's Afro-centric themes and jazz-rap beats by exploring genres like reggae, soul and hardcore punk.
Several cameos notwithstanding, Mos Def disappeared from music until last year, when he formed the all-black rock group Black Jack Johnson, which hoped to revive the legacy of '80s rockers Living Colour. Although they have not yet released a record, Black Jack Johnson appeared on several cuts of Mos Def's sophomore album, The New Danger, released last fall. While it received mostly lukewarm reviews, the album proved even more adventurous than Black on Both Sides.
Long before his rap career took off, however, Mos Def had built a solid résumé as an actor. After his graduation from high school in the late '80s, he landed a number of television roles-most notably on the short-lived The Cosby Mysteries. After the success of Black on Both Sides, he returned to acting, appearing on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, on television in MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera, and on the big screen in Monster's Ball, Bamboozled, The Italian Job and The Woodsman. He will star in an upcoming film adaptation of Douglas Adams' A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Mos Def and Talib Kweli were thrust into the national spotlight two years later with Black Star, named after black nationalist Marcus Garvey's Black Star shipping line. As its namesake suggests, the record sought to infuse the hip-hop community with a political conscience absent since the early days of Public Enemy, as well as to counteract the violence, negativity and even the pop sheen prevalent at the time.
One year later, Mos Def released his critically-acclaimed solo debut Black on Both Sides, which elaborated on Black Star's Afro-centric themes and jazz-rap beats by exploring genres like reggae, soul and hardcore punk.
Several cameos notwithstanding, Mos Def disappeared from music until last year, when he formed the all-black rock group Black Jack Johnson, which hoped to revive the legacy of '80s rockers Living Colour. Although they have not yet released a record, Black Jack Johnson appeared on several cuts of Mos Def's sophomore album, The New Danger, released last fall. While it received mostly lukewarm reviews, the album proved even more adventurous than Black on Both Sides.
Long before his rap career took off, however, Mos Def had built a solid résumé as an actor. After his graduation from high school in the late '80s, he landed a number of television roles-most notably on the short-lived The Cosby Mysteries. After the success of Black on Both Sides, he returned to acting, appearing on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, on television in MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera, and on the big screen in Monster's Ball, Bamboozled, The Italian Job and The Woodsman. He will star in an upcoming film adaptation of Douglas Adams' A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
