He is the individual who is one of the most thoughtful, aware and reflective artists of the music industry, he revolutionize the hard core hip hop music, he in real brought a positive change with his creative thinking and positive output. He fashioned his music type which in a new accepted way, which did extremely well. He is a multitalented artist, who has performed as an actor in several movies as well as a rapper on stage.
He was born as Dante Beze on December 11th, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA. From an early age he act and performed as a rapper. He married Maria Yepes and has two daughters, Chandani and Jauhara Smith. The couple divorced after few years of their marriage. Moss grew up in the heart of hip-hops golden era in 80’s. He did his majors in musical theater at a performing arts school in Manhattan. He has also done studies at New York University. At his later tens, he converted to Islam.
He was greatly influenced and enthused by the stars MC’s and New School leaders of that time including Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and De La Soul.  Apart from making music, he was greatly into enhancing and expanding his knowledge from the artistic field.
Mos come into limelight when he released become "Universal Magnetic" in 1996 and it was hugely popular and became a real hit in the hip hop world. This success led him to collaborate with Talib Kweli. It was a legendry partnership indeed. The two created a group called “Black Star”. They released their first album, “Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star”. This album become one of the most appreciated and celebrated hip-hop albums. Many songs of this album topped the charts including "Respiration" and "Definition".

Following this, he released his first solo album “Black on Both Sides”, which was appreciated for bringing back the hip-hop music back at its place.  
Besides music, he performed as an actor as well, revealing his hidden acting skills.  He appeared on screen many times including “Bamboozled” and “Monster's Bal”. He also appeared in “Brown Sugar”. For his acing in “Brown Sugar” he was nominated for an Image Award. He has also hosted a program for HBO.

Def has appeared opposite Alan Rickman in the highly praised HBO flick” Something the Lord Made”. His performance was cherished and appreciated a lot. He received another nomination in a Miniseries or a Movie for Outstanding Lead Actor. He also got nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and Golden Satellite Award for performance by an actor.

After that he performed in “The Italian Job”, together with Ed Norton, Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron.  He has appeared in “The Woodsman” alongside Bacon, Benjamin Bratt, Eve and Kyra Sedgwick. He also starred in “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”.

With acting, he did not leave his music career. He released his solo release, “The New Danger”. It received commendable recognition from the critics and fans. For one of his singles, "Sex, Love and Money' he was awarded a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative/Urban Performance and the album was certified gold by the RIAA.
He has appeared in more than ten movies. He has been nominated for and awarded a number of awards for his acting and singing. He is one of the renowned Rap singers of the musical industry.