Description
Born Brooklyn, New YorkDante Terrell Smith, taking the stage name Mos Def, has achieved success as both an actor and a musician. With the 1996 release of "Universal Magnetic," he became an underground favorite in the hip-hop world. He solidified his standing when he collaborated with Talib Kweli, releasing the album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star in 1998. From 2005 to 2011, he was nominated for six Grammys. His acting career is equally successful: he has appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated, Pulitzer Prize–winning Topdog/Underdog, has had recurring roles in television, and has appeared in several movies. He was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Vivien Thomas in HBO’s Something the Lord Made. In 2011 he took the new stage name of Yasiin.Since 2000 David Scheinbaum has photographed more than one hundred hip-hop performers, both in concert and backstage.
Image
Gelatin Silver Print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of David Scheinbaum, courtesy of Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd.
Record Contributed By
National Portrait GalleryRecord Harvested From
Smithsonian InstitutionKeywords
- Design
- Entertainers
- Interior
- Interior Decoration
- Male
- Men
- Mos Def
- Musician
- Musicians
- Performer
- Performing Arts
- Portrait
- Portraits
- Scheinbaum, David
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