Talk:Yasiin Bey/Archive 1

9-11 Conspiracy Theorist
Seems to me that while this page discusses his "socially aware" subject matter, it would be relevant to mention that he has accused the President of being responsible for 9/11 in a song
 * How do you figure that? &mdash; NRen2k5 14:23, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Mos Def appears to disbelieve a lot of things about the government of the United States, particularly things that give it merit, such as the landing on the Moon (see article for details). For his obsession with the alleged oppression of minorities by what he considers a racist government, one wonders whether he truly believes what he says, or if it is just a gimmick to sell rap albums. One must also evaluate his alleged Islamic beliefs. Many observers (such as his friend Bill Maher) show that he does not possess the amount of required knowledge and dedication it takes to be a bona fide Muslim (there is a big difference between being a bona fide Christian and a bona-fide Muslim, or Jew for that matter)- two examples of this would be his lack of knowledge of the Koran, something he should have mastered during the 14 years he has been a Muslim. Another example would be his "decadent lifestyle". These should bring one to wonder whether his Muslim faith is nothing more than a gimmick to sell rap albums.
 * I saw that clip and I do not believe Mos was serious about the moon landing, after he stated his beliefs on 9/11 (and being surprisingly well received by the audience) the host still gave him a "CMONN!!!" type of response, after it was clear he wasn't going to get a real conversation about it, he moved onto the moon landing where he said he believed it was a hoax so the host could write off everything he said as a joke and move on. At least, that's just how I perceived it
 * Mos Def believes the moon landing was a hoax; he was not joking about that or about  9/11 "conspiracy theories." Obviously the song "Bin Laden" by DJ Green Lantern with Immortal Technique and Mos Def indicates Mos Def believes the government is to blame for 9/11 terrorist attacks. Most educated and informed people believe the same thing, as Mos Def pointed out on the show. —Christopher Mann McKaytalk 04:52, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I know he wasn't joking about 9/11, I don't even consider that for a second, but I do believe he was joking about the moon landing, it was basically his exit strategy for the conversation. Discussing 9/11 conspiracies on national TV- you better have an exit strategy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.97.120.37 (talk) 10:09, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

I think really we are guessing on the moon landing stuff, true it appears that was more a joke, but unless he makes a statement disclaiming that, or a WP:RS says he was joking, we are stuck with what he is verified to have said. I'm pretty convinced he is a believer on the 9/11 stuff, as he also went so far as to take part in a song on that subject. Should he be in Category:Conspiracy Theorists ? Normally I wouldn't go that far for people who have casually mentioned a fringe belief, but as said, he went so far to record a song about it. He is named in the template Template:911tm Hulahulahulahula (talk) 00:24, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Real Name?
Is it Dante Beze or Dante Smith? IMDB says his birth name's Dante Terrell Smith. There are two versions of his middle name in this article... one place says 'Javier' and somewhere else it says 'Terrell'.Alvshill (talk) 19:02, 3 April 2008 (UTC) Alvin.S.
 * That's a good question that I don't know the answer to. I'm inclined to go with IMDB, however. Thanks for bringing it up. Fernando Rizo 23:32, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Islamic
I read that he was a muslim. Is he a mainstream Muslim or a Black Muslim? --L.A.F.


 * He is a Sunni muslim, following the Koran and the Sunnah (way) of Muhammad. The same as Malcolm X before he was murdered. So, no he isn't a "Black Muslim".

I have observed that Mos Def says a traditional Muslim Praise at the beginning of every album(bismalah...). Did he give praise at the beginning of New Danger? ... because I did not hear a mention of the topic.(nmandala47). He does, however, praise it at the beginning of the BoogieMan song. Listen closely.


 * He does claim to be a Muslim but there is no evidence that he follows a truly Islamic lifestyle.Mdriver1981 (talk) 23:57, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

If he is a traditional muslim should he not understand arabic..since that is the language of the koran, and one is supposed to be able to read the koran in its "true" form...if that is true, should he not be able to understand Osama's messages without a translation?
 * What does THAT have to do with anything? Osh33m (talk) 18:35, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * No, there are many Muslims cannot read Arabic nor speak it. eg/ Many from Malaysia, India, etc. 70.54.153.55 (talk) 20:55, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Filmography
This has been moved by User:TheGrza from User Talk:TheGrza and User Talk:Howrealisreal.

In regards to these edits you made to the Mos Def article, can you tell me the benefit of removing content from the filmography section? Some of the entries and awards you removed even have articles. Generally, it is Wikipedia policy to leave information in articles unless you have a specific reason why it should be taken out, and it should be explained in the talk page or the edit summary. --Howrealisreal 01:10, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Regarding my edits to the Mos Def page, they were designed to sort out his filmography a bit. The general standard for Filmographies is actually to do Selected Filmographies, pulling out notable films and television appearances and then linking to IMDb for users who need the full list. The movies removed may have been more significant to the development of Def as an actor or featured him prominently. I deleted the ones that seemed too minor but your assessment may be different and I usually defer to others on what is included, having not seen them all to make the judgement, however, if you have, please correct which ones are removed but I think we should follow most other actors pages and include only the Selected Filmography.


 * The Awards side of the coin, well, most filmographies don't include the awards; they're often in a different section but I left important nominations in there because it seems miniscule. Adding every Teen Choice Award or nomination by a minor or specified range of interest organization (e.g. Black Reel) would make the filmographies of most actors and actresses both unweildy and misleading; Sandler would have a larger award section than say, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  I don't think that it's too unreasonable to limit awards and especially nominations, especially when several of the deleted awards appear in the body of the article already.  This sound ok to you?--The Grza  02:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Sorry, I forgot to sign it and leave one more thing. It's already a selected filmography on Def's this page because it doesn't list his entire movie career. so I don't think it's entirely unreasonable. Thanks again, --The Grza  02:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

This conversation refers to edits here and here.

I'm not sure which roles were important to Mos Def's acting career either, and it seems pretty subjective to go though and erase/modify the list based on one or two people's opinions. But, on the other hand, I do see your point about sticking to brevity and relying more on IMDB. I was just alarmed. --Howrealisreal 20:16, 4 February 2006 (UTC) It seems all those "minor roles" wound up back in the article anyway. --Howrealisreal 01:44, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

The Rape Over
"The Rape Over" was never removed from The New Danger. I just bought a copy and the song is there. Even the source article says that it was temporarily removed due to sampling issues before release, but that it was never meant to be.

to add something i noticed here...the article calls the song anti-zionist for its reference to lyor cohen. the citation is a broken link, so i cant verify it, but wouldnt that be anti-semitic rather than anti-zionist? as far as i know it has nothing to do with the state of israel. if nobody can find an alternative citation to verify what this song was actually accused of, this sentence should probably be removed. Substatique 01:42, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

If he's critizizing lyor cohen it doesnt make him an anti anything, if i were to critize a specific cristian would that make me opposed to all christians? no it wouldnt, because it has nothing to do with any of that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.181.104.90 (talk) 06:23, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Mos Def
Is his name short for "Most Definitely"? 68.40.50.73 05:10, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes. -66.226.105.98 06:59, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Some would say that Mos Def is short for Most Definitely, but i believe that it is short for most definite due to the fact that in his song "close" he says, "Is dave what you call gangsta, hell no. they get a little pinch, the gonna snitch to the po. they all talk fast but they all think slow, Im Most Definite, not think so. F**k the city with the black ink flow and my crew aint scared to let them things go,so, stop with the nonsense like 'he conscious', its just the weight dog, im doin great dog, i dont play games so i dont playa hate dog, get it straight or get the f**k up out my face dog. So cool like old school _____dog,who got these little girles grindin from they waist dog, Im like the second plane that made the towers face off, the type to let you know its really not a game dog,.....Im the catalog, you the same song.

MOS DEFINITE.(nmandala)


 * just so you know, the song is called "close edge" and you got a few lines wrong in that verse, but you did get your point across so for that i applaud you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.116.184.96 (talk) 15:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Personal Life (Converting to Islam)
i have changed Personal life to Converting Islam beacuse it was totally about it. Khalidkhoso 03:06, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
 * His marriage, divorce, children and skateboarding ventures are a seperate issue from his religious conversion as a teenager. To classify all that under 'Conversion to Islam' would be misleading because it doesn't only cover his religious beliefs. Spellcast 13:38, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

If he is a traditional muslim should he not understand arabic..since that is the language of the koran, and one is supposed to be able to read the koran in its "true" form...if that is true, should he not be able to understand Osama's messages without a translation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.255.46.89 (talk) 17:57, 10 April 2009 (UTC)
 * What does THAT have to do with anything?

69.121.129.97 (talk) 18:16, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Leavin' on a Jet Plane
I have a track where Mos Def does a version of "Travelling Man" with the chorus from John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane". I can't seem to figure out when that track was released, or what album it was on. Can anyone here point me in the right direction? -GTBacchus(talk) 21:16, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Well I haven't heard the track so far but it seems to be from the album 'Soundwave Presents The Mos Def Collection' released in 2006. Here's a link Spellcast 14:32, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Italian Job
Nothing is mentioned of his role as Left Ear in 2003's Italian Job

Name Format
When entered into a list, should Mos Def be put under "M" or "D"?
 * 'M' because it is not a name. —Christopher Mann McKaytalk 01:58, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Bootleg Albums
Mos Definite isn't an official album, it's a bootleg, and therefore should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Crossdelena (talk • contribs) 13:59, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Its a bootleg? I thought it was official!!!(LonerXL (talk) 06:08, 22 August 2008 (UTC))

Education & Family
The article states that his younger brother was the first in the family to attend college. But it then goes on to reference Mos Def taking classes at NYU. Perhaps this needs further research and/or clarification. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Robyn667 (talk • contribs) 20:58, 29 April 2008 (UTC) what about medina green? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.99.11 (talk) 13:44, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Mos Def Big Band
Here's a live review from the recent Carnegie Hall show with Gil Scott-Heron if anyone would like to use it for a citation or link. (Full disclosure: I am an editor at Crawdaddy!, where this was published. But, to abide with COI guidelines, I am not posting anything on the wikipage itself, just letting editors know about the source.) It Shows: Mos Def Big Band featuring Gil Scott HeronThanks for your time Asst. Editor, Crawdaddy! FenderRhodesScholar | Talk 18:37, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Debate with Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hitchens
Nobody who saw that performance would term it an "active and intellectual" debate. Mos Def was clearly outmatched by Hitchens' and Rushdie's superior knowledge of the subject matter, and as a result Mos Def simply ignored every fact they laid out, or chose to talk over them. The entire exchange was grossly one-sided, with Mos Def resorting to insinuating that he had been set up. The entire episode was really quite pathetic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.252.50.236 (talk) 05:28, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, especially the extra footage that I think was HBO website podcast only, where they discussed more on the 'myth of bin laden', his distrust of the translations, and his cluelessness about the goals of al-qaeda. He came across as an idiot. I guess it was never likely he could match Hitchens and Rushdie, but I had kind of expected a bit more. His constant talking over people was ridiculous too. Ever the conspiracy theorist, he thought he'd been set up, but you could give him 4 weeks to prepare, and a blink drunk Hitchens would still ruin him in seconds. Jinniuop (talk) 03:58, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I find it amusing that he is considered the "intellectual" of the rap world. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.255.46.89 (talk) 17:58, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Number of Children
The article claims that Mos Def "has six other children with three other women," besides the two daughters with his ex-wife Maria Yepes. I cannot substantiate this at all. Two articles online claim that his lawyer stated that he had 3 other children besides the two daughters. http://concreteloop.com/2006/02/mos-def-is-behind-on-child-support http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.4253

Another article says that he "reportedly has 6 children with 4 women." http://www.bvnewswire.com/2008/07/01/mos-def-in-and-out-of-love-with-a-stripper/

The lawyer statement rings truer to me.173.88.155.103 (talk) 06:51, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Name Change?
According to a recent post on the official Dexter Facebook page, Mos Def, who has joined the cast for the sixth season, has dropped the 'Def' from his name. If this is true, his Wikipedia page should reflect this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by NVSBL (talk • contribs) 14:29, 12 May 2011 (UTC)