Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, United S… Read Full Bio ↴Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, United States), now known by the stage name Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper and actor. He now works under the nom de plum Yasiin Bey, and has performed under the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante and Pretty Flaco. He began rapping in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics in 1994, and then formed the duo Black Star with Talib Kweli in 1998. 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. Initially recognized for his musical output, Mos Def's screen work since the early 2000s has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work.

Rap career:
Mos Def began his performing career on the television show The Cosby Mysteries in 1994. In 1994, Mos also began his music career, forming the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD) with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite being signed to Payday Records, the group only released two singles and the group's debut album, Manifest Destiny, did not see the light of day until 2004 when released through Illson Media. In 1996 he emerged as a solo artist, working with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees before releasing his own first single, "Universal Magnetic" which was a huge underground hit. After signing with Rawkus Records, he and Talib Kweli released a full length album under the band name Black Star, entitled Black Star. It was released in 1998, with Hi-Tek producing most of the tracks. Mos Def released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides, in 1999. Filled with tracks raving about his hometown, Brooklyn and his love for Hip-Hop, Black on Both Sides also deals with racial profiling of Black men in America, with the track Mr Nigga. Mos Def was also featured on Rawkus' influential The Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing series compilations. After the collapse of Rawkus, Def along with Kweli signed on to Interscope/Geffen Records, who released his second album The New Danger in 2004. In early 2005 Mos Def was rumored to join Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella record label, but this was later denied by the artist himself claiming "Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella would never allow me to release songs I plan on putting out there. I ain't down with that commercial non-sense. I'm about to deal with the fake with my next album, from George Bush to 50 Cent." But, after making that comment, Mos Def was featured rapping on a SUV commercial, endorsing the GMC Denali. Mos Def is projected to release his last solo album on Geffen Records, The Undeniable Free Flaco in early 2006. His 4th studio album The Ecstatic was released June 9, 2009 on Downtown Records. It serves as Mos Def's second highest charting album to date. Upon its release, The Ecstatic received general acclaim from most music critics, and it earned Mos Def a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. Rolling Stone magazine named it the seventeenth best album of 2009.

Impact on hip-hop
The artistic boundaries of hip-hop and rap music had been redefined by artists such as Brand Nubian, De La Soul, and Public Enemy, whose music was more thematically sophisticated and socially conscious than that of their predecessors. By the early 1990s however, this brand of rap had been eclipsed in popularity by gangsta rap. Socially aware rap music (alternative hip hop) has experienced something of a renaissance in the late 1990s and now the 2000s, in part due to artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots and others. "Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are … Blackstar" Mos Def's collaboration with Talib Kweli was released during the aftermath of the deaths of 2pac and The Notorious B.I.G. sparking a rebirth of "aware" and "intelligent" hip-hop. Def's music often references his Islamic faith and his contention that black artists receive little credit for their role in the birth of rock and roll music.

On Mos Def's 2004 album The New Danger, the rapper took his penchant for experimentation to a new level. Most of the songs were more hip-hop flavored stylings of Blues and Rock, with few actual raps thrown in. This threw off fans who were expecting another full-blown rap album. The New Danger also featured the controversial song "The Rape Over", a parody of Jay-Z's The Blueprint hit "The Takeover":

old white men is runnin this rap shit
corporate forces runnin this rap shit
some tall israeli is runnin this rap shit
we poke out our asses for a chance to cash in
cocaine, is runnin this rap shit
'dro, 'yac and e-pills is runnin this rap shit...
mtv is runnin this rap shit
viacom is runnin this rap shit
aol and time warner runnin this rap shit...
quasi-homosexuals is runnin this rap shit

The lyrics would seem to have chafed with higher-placed executives, who made Mos take the song off of later releases of the album, supposedly for "sample clearance issues".

In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap" (utilizing the instrumental for Juvenile's "Nolia Clap"), a critical reaction to the lack of response by the Bush administration to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He probably chose the "Nolia Clap" instrumental because the rapper Juvenile hails from New Orleans, and the song was a hit in the New Orleans area before the hurricane.

Mos Def also collaborated with Kanye West on West's track named "two words" and appeared in the music video.

Acting career
The first years of the 2000s have established Mos Def as a notable actor. His performances in Brown Sugar, Monster's Ball, and the HBO made-for-TV film Something The Lord Made have been particularly acclaimed by critics. Having been nominated for several awards, Mos finally broke through, winning Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman. He also landed the role of Ford Prefect in the long-awaited 2005 movie adaption of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Notably, in 2002 he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He has also been a musical guest and participated in many skits on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show.

In 2004, he hosted the MOBO awards in London, after the original presenter, Pharrell Williams pulled out at the last minute.

He has been the host of the award-winning spoken word show Def Poetry Jam since its inception. The show's sixth season aired in February 2007.

Discography
* 1998 Black Star (released with Talib Kweli under the name Black Star) Priority Records
* 1999 Black on Both Sides Rawkus Records
* 2004 The New Danger Geffen
o nominated for Best Urban/Alternative
Performance, 47th Annual Grammy Awards
* 2006 True Magic
* 2009 THE Ecstatic Downtown Records
* 2010 Mos Dub

Selected Filmography
* Cadillac Records (2009)
* Be Kind Rewind (2008)
* Talladega Nights (2006) (a quick cameo)
* Dreamgirls (2006)
* Bobby (2006)
* The Brazilian Job (2006) (pre-production)
* 16 Blocks (2006)
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).
* Lackawanna Blues (2005)
* Something the Lord Made (2004)
o nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, 56th Annual Emmy Awards
o nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
* Chapelle Show (? year) - Black Delegation Rep for Racial Draft
* The Woodsman (2004)
* The Italian Job (2003)
* Brown Sugar (2002)
* Civil Brand (2002)
* Showtime (2002)
* Monster's Ball (2001)
* Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
* Bamboozled (2000)
* Where's Marlowe? (1998)

In September 2011, Mos Def announced that he planned to use the name Yasiin Bey instead of Mos Def beginning in 2012.

http://www.myspace.com/mosdef

Twilite Speedball
Mos Def Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Have fun y'all
Have fun y'all

The city breathing all down your neck
Bad news and good dough special effects
And reality's teeth
Bright, black, sicker than deep
Who ain't shy of the pain?

Who ain't shy of the pleasure just the same?
Life is a game I heard the homie say
Well I came to win so I'm not here to play

Have fun (Get it, get it)

Don't stop
Ecstatic
Fantastic
Wild
Speedball

Bad news and good dough
Powder, potion, pills, smoke
Baby, how you trying to go?
Duro o dulce, fast or slow?
Yay, no?
It's okay you can have it your way love
It ain't all good but baby I'm cool
Feeling great, feeling good how are you?

Ten percent condition, ninety percent response
Survival mathematics the number mad song
Old dads drop the jewels so pure
When the times get raw, there's something I recall
Sometimes I don't remember it at all
And it gets stormed by the weather with no umbrella
Sky release pressure and the ground get wetter
My outfit effed up
Could'a looked fresher
But guess what?
The hell with parade day rain
Tsunami and sunshine a vomit is the same
Life is a game I heard the homie say
Well I came to win
Dante

Get it get it
Bey!
Get it get it
Brooklyn
Get it get it
Ecstatic
Don't Stop
Speedball

Bad news and good dough
Powder, potion, pills, smoke
Baby, how you trying to go?
Duro o dulce, fast or slow?
Yay, no?
It's okay you can have it your way love
Nasty times, but baby I'm cool
Feeling great, feeling good

Ey'day
Every day
Having a good time
Every day
Having a good time
Every day

Bey!

Having a good time, every day

That's cool

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Mos Def's song Twilite Speedball depict the singer's hedonistic and existential outlook on life in the city. To him, the city is an overwhelming place where good news and bad news coexist, where reality is "sicker than deep," and where one must be bold enough to embrace pain and pleasure in equal measure. For the singer, life is a game that he came to win, not to play. The repeated phrase "have fun" acts as an ironic reminder of the nihilistic attitude of the singer towards life, which is further emphasized by the refrain "speedball," a term that refers to the deadly mixture of heroin and cocaine.

The second half of the song delves deeper into the singer's addiction to drugs and their effects on his perception of reality. He describes different modes of consumption - powder, potion, pills, and smoke - and poses the question to his lover, "Baby, how you trying to go? Duro o dulce, fast or slow?" The Spanish phrase "duro o dulce" translates to "hard or sweet," alluding to the duality of the singer's experience with drugs. He acknowledges that it's not all good, but he's cool with it anyway. The song ends with the repetition of the phrase "having a good time every day," suggesting that perhaps the only way to cope with the harsh reality of the city is to detach from it altogether and indulge in pleasure-seeking.

Line by Line Meaning

The city breathing all down your neck
The atmosphere of the city can be suffocating and close to an individual.

Bad news and good dough special effects
There are negative and positive aspects that come along with the hustle.

And reality's teeth
The difficulties of life.

Bright, black, sicker than deep
The pain and struggle run deep enough to affect oneself despite their outward appearance.

Who ain't shy of the pain?
Who is brave enough to embrace the hardships of life?

Who ain't shy of the pleasure just the same?
Who is willing to indulge in the pleasures of life just as eagerly as they embrace the pain?

Life is a game I heard the homie say
The philosophy that life is a competition is a common ideology among those Mos Def knows.

Well I came to win so I'm not here to play
Mos Def is focused on rising to the top, not indulging in frivolous pursuits.

Bad news and good dough
The negative and positive aspects of the hustle.

Powder, potion, pills, smoke
The various ways one could choose to pursue either darkness or light.

Baby, how you trying to go?
What path will you choose?

Duro o dulce, fast or slow?
Hard or soft, fast or slow?

Yay, no?
Yes or no - ultimately, the choice is yours.

It's okay you can have it your way love
There's no one right way to live your life.

Nasty times, but baby I'm cool
Despite the hardships, Mos Def is calm and collected.

Feeling great, feeling good
Overall, Mos Def is satisfied with his life and choices.

Ten percent condition, ninety percent response
Only a small portion of one's life may be within their control, but their response to external factors plays a larger role.

Survival mathematics the number mad song
Life, in a sense, is a mathematical equation or puzzle one must solve to continue on.

Old dads drop the jewels so pure
Elders offer wisdom and guidance to help navigate the difficulties of life.

When the times get raw, there's something I recall
Mos Def has learned to reflect on past experiences to help him cope with current hardship.

Sometimes I don't remember it at all
However, sometimes Mos Def cannot remember or access the lessons he's learned from his past.

And it gets stormed by the weather with no umbrella
At times, life throws unexpected challenges that one is not prepared for.

Sky release pressure and the ground get wetter
The release of tension may lead to negative consequences.

My outfit effed up
Mos Def might feel unprepared for what life throws his way.

Could'a looked fresher
Mos Def could have been better prepared for the challenges he is currently facing.

But guess what?
However, despite these challenges, Mos Def is not defeated.

The hell with parade day rain
Mos Def is not bothered by minor setbacks.

Tsunami and sunshine a vomit is the same
Even good things can have negative consequences.

Ey'day
Every day.

Having a good time
Mos Def is enjoying his life.

Bey!
An expression of enthusiasm.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DANTE SMITH, CHAD HUGO

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

No Related Genres

More Genres

No Artists Found

More Artists Load All

No Albums Found

More Albums Load All

No Tracks Found

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@artemnikolayevich3940

4y↑13

Have fun y'all
Have fun y'all
The city breathing all down your neck
Bad news and good dough special effects
And reality's teeth
Bright, black, sicker than deep
Who ain't shy of the pain?
Who ain't shy of the pleasure just the same?
Life is a game I heard the homie say
Well I came to win so I'm not here to play
Have fun (Get it, get it)
Don't stop
Ecstatic
Fantastic
Wild
Speedball
Bad news and good dough
Powder, potion, pills, smoke
Baby, how you trying to go?
Duro o dulce, fast or slow?
Yay, no?
It's okay you can have it your way love
It ain't all good but baby I'm cool
Feeling great, feeling good how are you?
Ten percent condition, ninety percent response
Survival mathematics the number mad song
Old dads drop the jewels so pure
When the times get raw, there's something I recall
Sometimes I don't remember it at all
And it gets stormed by the weather with no umbrella
Sky release pressure and the ground get wetter
My outfit effed up
Could'a looked fresher
But guess what?
The hell with parade day rain
Tsunami and sunshine a vomit is the same
Life is a game I heard the homie say
Well I came to win
Dante
Get it get it
Bey!
Get it get it
Brooklyn
Get it get it
Ecstatic
Don't Stop
Speedball
Bad news and good dough
Powder, potion, pills, smoke
Baby, how you trying to go?
Duro o dulce, fast or slow?
Yay, no?
It's okay you can have it your way love
Nasty times, but baby I'm cool
Feeling great, feeling good
Ey'day
Every day
Having a good time
Every day
Having a good time
Every day
Bey!
Having a good time, every day
That's cool