Who

Mos Def is a rapper, actor and enthusiastic member of the Muslim faith. He's also a homophobe, genius, anti-Semite, or deadbeat dad, depending on whom you talk to.

Backstory

Dante Terrell Smith was raised in Brooklyn and started performing as a kid, earning his first role in a TV movie at age 14. His first shot at the big leagues never panned out: He was cast in the series The Cosby Mysteries in 1994 but the show was cancelled after less than a year. Turning his attention to music, he started making a name for himself behind the mic, working with acts like De La Soul and Da Bush Babees before teaming up with Talib Kweli to form the group Black Star. In 1998, they released their first—and only—album on Rawkus Records and the record became an underground hip-hop classic. In 1999, Mos followed up with a solo debut, Black on Both Sides, which was also well received by fans and critics alike. In recent years, he's become equally well known for his acting career. He's appeared in films including 2001's Monster's Ball and The Italian Job, performed on Broadway in Suzan Lori-Parks 2002's Pulitzer-winning Topdog/Underdog, and, rather improbably, played Ford Prefect in the 2005 film version of the canonical geek novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Of note

Mos Def's often lumped in with other "socially-conscious" rappers like Common and Talib Kweli, who rap about politics and religion and shun the commercialization of hip-hop and all the bling, rims, and big booty hos that go along with it. The perception, though, doesn't quite jibe with committed Muslim Mos Def's lyrics, which have featured material described as anti-white, homophobic, and vaguely anti-Semitic. He's rapped about his enemies being "mad fag" and "quasi-homosexuals" and complained that the hip-hop industry is run by "some tall Israeli" (i.e. Lyor Cohen). His interviews with the media have stirred up controversy, too: In recent years, he's suggested that Al-Qaeda isn't really as bad as the news media makes it out to be and that the American landing on the moon was a hoax. Of course, his political crusades haven't stopped him from selling out to the Man. After dismissing Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label as "commercial nonsense" in 2005, he wrote and appeared in an ad for the GMC Denali sport-utility vehicle later the same year.

Off hours

Mos Def recently took up skateboarding, and he's been preaching about the pastime in interviews, calling it "a beautiful thing" and a "great meditative vehicle." In summer 2006, he designed a series of skateboarding sneakers for Converse.

Legal file

Mos was arrested in 2006 outside of the MTV Video Music Awards for disorderly conduct. The reason? He pulled up in a flatbed truck in front of Radio City Music Hall and staged an impromptu performance of his song "Katrina Clap."

Personal

Mos Def divorced his first wife, Maria Yepes-Smith, in 2005. He has two daughters with her, along with three other children with other women. In 2006, Yepes-Smith took him to court for shorting her on child support and won. He is currently married to Alana Wyatt, whom he wed in Canada in 2005. They live in Brooklyn.