Mos eventually formed the hip-hop super duo Black Star with fellow BK resident Talib Kweli, and released their debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star in 1998. He soon became one of the cornerstones of Rawkus Records, a Manhattan-based independent label that was becoming synonymous with non-mainstream hip-hop. As the decade progressed, the Brooklyn native made appearances on records by De La Soul and began establishing a presence in New York’s thriving underground scene. Mos Def first began to attract a following in the mid ’90s as a member of Urban Thermo Dynamics, along with his brother and sister. With Black On Both Sides, his debut album, he decides to set trends rather than follow them. He continues, “So the next time you ask yourself where hip-hop is going ask yourself: where am I going? How am I doing?” While Mos implores his audience to be proactive in helping hip-hop music put its best foot forward, he himself is ready to lead by example. Mos Def speaks these words on “Fear Not Of Man,” the intro to Black On Both Sides, and they resonate as powerfully now as they did 20 years ago, when the album was first released. Yasiin Bey), perfectly illustrates how questions about the “state” of hip-hop are so often misguided. This statement, made by Dante “Mos Def” Smith (a.k.a. “People talk about hip-hop like it's some giant living in the hillside, coming down to visit the townspeople. Happy 20th Anniversary to Mos Def’s debut solo album Black On Both Sides, originally released October 12, 1999.
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