The name "Mos Def" derived from this musician/actor's favorite phrase; when people would ask him to hang out, the answer was invariably "most definitely!" Regarded as one of hip-hop's most introspective and insightful artists, Mos Def has shaped a career that transcends music genres and artisitc medium. A child of hip-hop's golden era, the native Brooklynite spent his childhood imbedded in the culture surrounding him as well as absorbing knowledge from across the music spectrum. With the release of "Universal Magnetic," Mos Def became an underground favorite, leading to his legendary collaboration with Talib Kweli. The two formed the group Black Star whose debut album "Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star," would become one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums. Mos Def followed his group album with the release of his 1999 solo debut "Black on Both Sides," which was certified gold and credited by critics as bringing hip-hop back to its soapbox root.

As with his music, Mos Def has demostrated insight and passion in his acting career, appearing in Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" (2000), MTV's "Carmen: A Hip Hopera" (2001), the critically acclaimed "Monster's Ball" (2001), and the romantic comedy, "Brown Sugar" (2002) for which he received an NAACP Image Award nomination. That same year, he completed his Broadway debut in the Tony nominated, Pulitzer Prize-winning, "Top Dog/Underdog." In addition to performing, Mos Def hosted, co-executive produced and served as musical director for the HBO series, "Def Poetry Jam," as well as served as a writer, producer and actor on the MTV sketch comedy series "The Lyricist Lounge" (2000). In 2003, Mos Def successfully added comedy relief to the crime action feature, "The Italian Job," which starred Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron, and he appeared in the hard-hitting women-in-prison drama "Civil Brand." After psychologically antagonizing Kevin Bacon’s convicted child molester in “The Woodsman” (2004), he played the cynical, hard-drinking galactic hitchhiker Ford Prefect in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxay” (2005), the long-awaited film adaptation of Douglas Adams’ famed sci-fi novels.