Mos Def produced by Jill Newman Productions
Apr 14-Apr 16, 2009
Tues, Wed and Thurs 8pm & 10pm shows $55
Yoshi's Oakland
510 Embarcadero West
Jack London Square
Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: 510.238.9200

In 1996, Mos Def became an underground favorite in the hip hop world, leading to his legendary collaboration with Talib Kweli. The two formed Black Star whose debut album would become one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums. Mos followed that release with his 1999 solo debut, Black On Both Sides, which was certified gold and credited by critics as bringing hip-hop back to its soapbox roots. Mos Def released his highly- anticipated and critically acclaimed sophomore solo release, The New Danger (Geffen Records), on October 12th. The album was met with praise from both critics and fans alike, with Rolling Stone giving it 4 Stars and hailing the album as “Ghetto rock and righteous hip-hop from dazzlingly talented Def” and the New York Daily News proclaimed “No one is doing more to change our notion of how hip hop can sound.” The first single, “Sex, Love and Money” earned Def a 2005 Grammy nomination for Best Alternative/ Urban Performance. Mos Def released a studio album in 2007 titled True Magic (Media/ Geffen Records) and is currently working on a new CD.

As with his music, Mos has demonstrated insight and passion with his acting career and has appeared in a variety of film and TV projects including Monster’s Ball, The Italian Job, and in the critically acclaimed HBO movie Something the Lord Made, for which he received a 2004 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie, Golden Globe Award (Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture), and NAACP Award. Def has also been in the feature film The Woodsman, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (April 2005), 16 Blocks (March 2006), Dave Chappell’s Block Party (2006), and Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind (February 2008).

In addition to his acting credits Mos has served as the host, music supervisor and co executive producer for the HBO series Def Poetry, which returned for its sixth season in 2007. Def has also served as a writer, producer and actor on the MTV sketch comedy series Lyricist Lounge. Mos completed his Broadway debut in 2002 in the Tony nominated, Pulitzer Prize winning, Topdog/Underdog and reteamed with playwright, Suzan Lori Parks and director George Wolfe for the off- Broadway play, Fucking A, for which he was awarded an Obie Award.

Mos Def is also working on the production of a book called Black, 2.0 by Mos Def. The production, a heavily illustrated and innovatively designed compendium of significant moments and movements, artifacts and icons of the past 35 years of black culture, is slated to be published in Fall 2008 ( The Doubleday Publishing Group, part of Random House, Inc).

Lastly, Mos Def recently collaborated with Converse to design a line of sneakers. His signature sneakers feature laser-etched pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline, and are available now in stores.

http://www.myspace.com/mosdef