Newsletter
Subscribe to The State of Hip Hop E-Zine FREE and stay up on the hottest and most accurate rap lyrics for the enjoyment and education of the future's best emcees!
Subscribe to The State of Hip Hop E-Zine FREE and stay up on the hottest and most accurate rap lyrics for the enjoyment and education of the future's best emcees!
Accurate Mos Def Lyrics
Accurate Mos Def lyrics for research, informative, and entertainment purposes.
 |
Mos Def began his performing career on the television show The Cosby Mysteries in 1994. The same year Mos Def also began his music career, forming the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite being signed to Payday Records, the group only released two singles and the group's debut album, Manifest Destiny, did not see the light of day until 2004 when released through Illson Media. In 1996 he emerged as a solo artist, working with De La Soul and da Bush Babees before releasing his own first single, "Universal Magnetic" which was a huge underground hit. After signing with Rawkus Records, he and Talib Kweli released Black Star, a full length album, in 1998, with Hi-Tek producing most of the tracks. Mos Def released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides, in 1999. After the collapse of Rawkus, Def along with Kweli signed on to Interscope/Geffen Records, who released his second album The New Danger in 2004. Mos Def is projected to release his last album on Geffen Records in 2007.
The artistic boundaries of hip-hop and rap music had been redefined by artists such as Brand Nubian, De La Soul, and Public Enemy, whose music was more thematically sophisticated and socially conscious than that of their predecessors. By the early 1990s however, this brand of rap had been eclipsed by the popularity of gangsta rap. Socially aware rap music has experienced something of a renaissance in the late 1990s and now the 2000s, in part due to artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dev Smith, The Roots and others. Def's music often references his Islamic faith and his contention that black artists receive little credit for their role in the birth of rock and roll music.
In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap", a critical reaction to the percieved lack of response by the Bush administration to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
The first years of the 2000s have established Mos Def as a notable actor. His performances in Brown Sugar, Monster's Ball, and the HBO made-for-TV film Something The Lord Made have been particularly acclaimed by critics. He also landed the role of Ford Prefect in the long-awaited 2005 movie adaption of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Notably, in 2002 he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He has also been a musical guest and participated in many skits on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show.
He has been the host of the award-winning spoken word show Def Poetry Jam since its inception. The show's fifth season aired in 2005.
Mos def goes by other aliases including, Mighty Mos Def, Pretty Flaco, and Black Dante.
Below are accurate Mos Def lyrics to some of his most requested songs. If you have any requests for accurate lyrics to a Mos Def song please feel free to email
Lyrics @ Thestateofhiphop.com.
-Mos Def
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides (1999)
Mos Def - The New Danger (2004)
The Boogie Man Song
Ghetto Rock
Sunshine
The Beggar
Zimzallabim
Mos Def - Miscellaneous
Underground Hip Hop | Freestyle & Battle | Accurate Lyrics | Books & Videos | Rap Advice
Make Money | Links