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NEW YORK -- He is the conscious rapper, conscious in the post-Y2K sense, referencing Islam, Jimi and Trane, a rapper for whom keeping it real means buying a bookstore in the 'hood, a bookstore in ...

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio. There are a few songs I vividly remember hearing (or seeing if the video ...

Chess Records has long been overshadowed by two other legendary black music labels, Motown and Stacks. But it's now getting its time in the spotlight with the new film called "Cadillac Records." The ...

The 42-year-old hip hop artist, actor and activist, whose birth name was Dante Smith but who has used the name Yasiin Bey for the last five years, was arrested in Cape Town in January after trying to ...

An American rapper has found out the hard way that a "world passport" isn't accepted in South Africa. Mos Def must appear in court for allegedly breaking South Africa's immigration laws, an official ...

Rappers with Mos Def's reputation and charisma aren't supposed to wait five years between albums, but the Brooklyn native has been legitimately distracted. He can act -- and Hollywood adores him for ...

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For the best experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Mos Def performed Club Ebony and The Bus Actor and rapper Mos Def seems to have fallen in ...

Mos Def performs onstage with Gorillaz during the Meadows Music and Arts Festival - Day 2 at Citi Field on September 16, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) There are a few ...