Artist:Mos Def
Song:Umi Says
Album:Black on Both Sides
Dante "Mos Def" Smith has had success as a rapper and an actor. After success in the duo Black Star, he released his solo debut in 1999 Black on Both Sides. That album and singles like Umi Says have been his most successful. And then he got into acting. He retired from both in 2016. He was born Dec. 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, NY. He was a child actor most notably on the 1988 ABC TV movie God Bless the Child with Mare Winningham. After dropping out of high school, he got into music. After a couple of guest shots, he signed with Rawkus Records and formed Black Star with Talib Kweli. They released one album and Smith went solo and released the 1999 album Black on Both Sides. The album sold almost a million copies and was certified Gold. Singles like Umi Says and Ms. Fat Booty charted in R&B and rap. But Smith never crossed over to pop. He wouldn't release his next album until 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip-Hopera. He was nominated for an Emmy for the 2004 film Something the Lord Made. He returned to music with the 2004 album The New Danger. It was certified Gold. So this is what he did. He went back and forth between music and films. He released his most recent album in 2009. After that he did mostly guest shots most notably with Kanye West. And he continued to appear in films and TV until his 2016 retirement. He now calls himself Yaslin Bey and he opened an art gallery in 2018. For a while, it looked like Mos Def would be a big rap star. Maybe he didn't want that. Here's the video for Umi Says by Mos Def.
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