One of the best in the '90s new school of Native Tongue rappers (alongside Common and the Bush Babees), Mos Def guested with old-school Native Tongues De La Soul and recorded for Rawkus Records, the home of independent-minded rap of the 1990s. Born Dante Beze, he began rhyming at the age of nine and formed his first group, Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), with his brother and sister. Invited to join the Native Tongues family founded by Afrika Bambaataa and including A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul among its members, Mos Def agreed and appeared on the fourth De La Soul LP, Stakes Is High. He also contributed a verse on the second Bush Babees album, then released his first single "The Universal Magnetic," for the seminal rap independent Rawkus; A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip appeared on his second single, "Body Rock." Mos Def began recording for his debut album (with Talib Kweli), Black Star, released in September 1998. -- Courtesy All Music Guide.
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, AND BIOGRAPHIES
Rawkus' Mos Def bio
1998 Concert Review at the Palace
Blaze's Black Star article
MTV's Black Star article
Wall Of Sound's review
Platform's Mos Def interview
Great Mos Def article by mired.com
spin.com review
Article from Barnes & Noble
P4M.net article on Mos Def
Black On Both Sides review by The Scenes
Mos Def page at UBL.com
Black On Both Sides review from allhiphop.com
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