Slam poets

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 33. Chapters: Mos Def, Kealoha, Saul Williams, Sevan Aydinian, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Kip Fulbeck, Big Poppa E, Taylor Mali, Anis Mojgani, Beau Sia, Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., Marc Smith, Bob Holman, Steve Connell, B. Dolan, Ragan Fox, H. M. Naqvi, Sonja Sohn, Ursula Rucker, Taalam Acey, Staceyann Chin, Buddy Wakefield, Mighty Mike McGee, Sage Francis, Sarah Jones, Jamie DeWolf, Danny Hoch, Janice Erlbaum, Da'shade Moonbeam, John Akpata, Jessica Care Moore, Suzi Q. Smith, Karyna McGlynn, Dwayne Morgan, Danny Strack, Jack McCarthy, Meilani Clay, Grand Corps Malade, Gerard McKeown, MuMs da Schemer. Excerpt: Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and MC known by the stage name Mos Def ( ). Mos Def started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in the late 1990s underground hip hop explosion spearheaded by Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009. Although he was initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def's screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work. Mos Def has also been active in several social and political issues. Mos Def grew up during the golden age of hip-hop and has rapped and acted since he was six. He attended Philippa Schuyler Middle School in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He majored in Musical Theater at Talent Unlimited High School of the Performing Arts in Manhattan. He studied at New York University in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He has two younger brothers, Abdul Rahman (a.k.a. "Gold Medal Man"), who is Mos Def's full-time DJ, and Anwar Superstar. He also has a younger sister, Ces "Casey" Smith, and a younger half-brother, Jermone Victor Moulton, who resides in Brooklyn and shares the same mother, Sheron. Mos Def converted to Islam. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation, Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is friends with fellow Muslim rappers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip. Mos Def began his music career in 1994 in the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his