Yasiin Bey

Yasiin Bey

1973-12-11 Brooklyn, New York, USA 51 Credits

Biography

Yasiin Bey (/jæˈsiːn ˈbeɪ/; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def, is an American retired rapper, singer-songwriter, and actor. Regarded as one of hip hop's most introspective and insightful artists, Mos Def, has shaped a career that transcends music genres and artistic medium. With the release of "Universal Magnetic" (1996), he became an underground favorite in the hip-hop world, leading to his legendary collaboration with Talib Kweli. The two formed Black Sta...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Gorillaz | MTV World Stage

2023

as Mos Def

8.0
Acting

Performing live from the Tonhalle, Dusseldorf, Germany. Gorillaz played live in this unique classical venue to an intimate audience.

Part of Me

Part of Me

2023

as Himself

Acting

This is the story of the appreciation, respect and fondness of musician, actor and activist Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) for Spanish-Moroccan painter Anua...

Hargrove

Hargrove

2022

as Self

7.0
Acting

Jazz trumpet legend Roy Hargrove, deemed by his peers as a musical prophet, up close and personal like you have never seen him before. The film follow...

You're Watching Video Music Box

You're Watching Video Music Box

2021

as Self (archive footage)

6.4
Acting

The untold story of the world’s longest running video show, Video Music Box. A hip hop mainstay since 1983, VMB gave a platform to artists like Jay-Z,...

Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light

Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light

2021

Acting

My Blackest self, whose whitest death, is luxury. I am no stranger anymore. The world is love to me.

Gorillaz: Reject False Icons

Gorillaz: Reject False Icons

2019

as Mos Def

7.6
Acting

Focused on the life of the band and their collaborators over the 3 vital years in which they developed critically acclaimed albums, 'Humanz' and 'The ...

French Tour

French Tour

2016

as Focé

5.3
Acting

Far’Hook is a 20-year-old rapper. Following a violent dispute with a rival, he’s forced to leave Paris for a while. His producer, Bilal, suggests that...

Amy

Amy

2015

as Self

7.6
Acting

A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her...

Begin Again

Begin Again

2014

as Saul

7.2
Acting

Gretta, a budding songwriter, finds herself alone after her boyfriend Dave ditches her. Her life gains purpose when Dan, a record label executive, not...

Life of Crime

Life of Crime

2013

as Ordell Robbie

5.8
Acting

Two common criminals get more than they bargained for after kidnapping the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer who shows no interest in paying the...

Standard Operating Procedure

2013

Acting

Yasiin Bey appears in a video demonstrating the Standard Operating Procedure for force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay.

Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

2012

as Self

6.7
Acting

SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP is a feature length performance documentary about the runaway juggernaut that is Rap music. At the wheel of thi...

A Man's Story

A Man's Story

2011

as Self

6.9
Acting

Documentary about British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

2011

as Self

7.2
Acting

Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip hop bands of all time, the Queens NY collective known as 'A Tribe Called...

I'm Still Here

I'm Still Here

2010

as Mos Def

6.0
Acting

I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the film follows the Oscar-nominee as...

Bouncing Cats

2010

Acting

This documentary follows the efforts of Abraham "Abramz" Tekya and Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) to use dance to empower youth in war-torn Uganda. T...

The Making of Plastic Beach

The Making of Plastic Beach

2010

as Mos Def

Acting

A documentary about the production, recording and development of Gorillaz' third studio album, Plastic Beach.

Next Day Air

Next Day Air

2009

as Eric

5.2
Acting

Two inept criminals are mistakenly delivered a package of cocaine and think they've hit the jackpot, triggering a series of events that changes ten pe...

Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records

2008

as Chuck Berry

7.1
Acting

The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, includ...

Passaic Mosaic

2008

Thanks

1.0

A short documentary, looking at life in Passaic, New Jersey, whilst the film Be Kind Rewind (2008) is being shot there.

Prince Among Slaves

Prince Among Slaves

2008

as Narrator

6.0
Acting

Abdul Rahman, an African prince who was sold into slavery, spent four decades in servitude before an amazing coincidence took him to the White House t...

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind

2008

as Mike

6.3
Acting

A man whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal rente...

In Prison My Whole Life

In Prison My Whole Life

2008

as Self

Acting

William Francome is a fairly typical, white middle-class guy. Typical except for the fact that he is about to embark on a journey into the dark heart ...

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

2006

as Mos Def

6.4
Acting

The fastest man on four wheels, Ricky Bobby is one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. A big, hairy American winning machine, Ricky has everyth...

September in Brooklyn: The Making of Block Party

September in Brooklyn: The Making of Block Party

2006

as Self

Acting

Behind the scenes look at Dave Chappelle's Block Party.

Coachella

Coachella

2006

as Self (Interviewee)

6.4
Acting

Filmmaker Drew Thomas brings California's popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to the screen with a different kind of musical documentary ...

Journey to the End of the Night

Journey to the End of the Night

2006

as Wemba

5.9
Acting

In a dark and decadent area of São Paulo, the exiled Americans Rosso and his son Paul own a brothel. Paul is a compulsive gambler addicted in cocaine ...

16 Blocks

16 Blocks

2006

as Eddie Bunker

6.4
Acting

An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running t...

Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops

Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops

2006

Acting

A documentary on the secret dossiers that police, FBI, and task agencies have compiled on hip-hop performers and industry executives.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

2005

as Self - (as Mos Def)

6.8
Acting

The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio mans moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unpr...

Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

2005

as Self

Acting

An in-depth examination of the complete production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2005

as Ford Prefect

6.7
Acting

Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a res...

Lackawanna Blues

Lackawanna Blues

2005

as The Bandleader

5.9
Acting

In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he liv...

The Woodsman

The Woodsman

2004

as Sgt. Lucas

6.9
Acting

After twelve years in prison, Walter returns home. His family has abandoned him, save for his brother-in-law. Few know he's a sex offender and pedophi...

Something the Lord Made

Something the Lord Made

2004

as Vivien Thomas

7.7
Acting

A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.

Civil Brand

Civil Brand

2003

as Michael Meadows

6.7
Acting

Forced to work under slave-like conditions in a "prison for profit" program, the inmates of a mostly-African-American female prison, Whitehead Correct...

The Italian Job

The Italian Job

2003

as Left Ear

6.8
Acting

Charlie Croker pulled off the crime of a lifetime. The one thing that he didn't plan on was being double-crossed. Along with a drop-dead gorgeous safe...

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

2003

as Himself

Acting

Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential musicians and poets of the last 50 years. In Don Letts's documentary, Gil tells his own story for the ...

Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!

Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!

2003

as Self

8.0
Acting

This documentary praises comedian Richard Pryor by showing fragments of various shows Pryor made and having famous comedians talk about the importance...

Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar

2002

as Chris Anton 'Cav' Vichon

6.7
Acting

Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-...

Showtime

Showtime

2002

as Lazy Boy

5.5
Acting

A spoof of buddy cop movies where two very different cops are forced to team up on a new reality based T.V. cop show.

Monster's Ball

Monster's Ball

2001

as Ryrus Cooper

6.8
Acting

A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.

Carmen: A Hip Hopera

Carmen: A Hip Hopera

2001

as Lt. Miller

6.2
Acting

An engaged Philadelphia policeman falls in love with a beautiful woman while dealing with a corrupt superior.

Bamboozled

Bamboozled

2000

as Mau Mau: Big Blak Afrika

6.2
Acting

Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix pitches the worst idea he can think of in an attempt to get fired: a 2...

Island of the Dead

Island of the Dead

2000

as Robbie J

3.4
Acting

Stranded on a deserted island, a group of people struggle to survive against a swarm of supernatural flies.

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

2000

as Himself

6.9
Acting

From neighborhood ciphers to the most notorious MC battles, "Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme" captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop-...

Where's Marlowe?

Where's Marlowe?

1998

as Wilt Crawley

5.7
Acting

After making a disastrous 3-hour documentary on New York City's water supply, two young filmmakers focus on the goings-on of life in the LA offices of...

Ghosts

Ghosts

1997

as Dante

8.0
Acting

In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the...

Split Images

Split Images

1992

as Curtis Roy

Acting

A journalist knows more about a grizzly murder than is good for her. All her evidence points toward a mysterious millionaire but no one will believe h...

The Hard Way

The Hard Way

1991

as Dead Romeos

6.2
Acting

Seeking to raise his credibility as an actor and to land a role as a tough cop on a new show, Hollywood action star Nick Lang works a deal with New Yo...

God Bless the Child

God Bless the Child

1988

as Richard Watkins

6.3
Acting

Single mother, Theresa Johnson, becomes homeless, loses her job and tries to survive with her young daughter, Hillary, through charities and public sh...