Yasiin Bey October 5, 2012

Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) has led a storied and prolific career. Cutting his teeth with the likes of De La Soul and Talib Kweli, the Brooklyn-born hip hop star burst onto the national consciousness in the mid-'90s and never looked back. While Yasiin Bey's career and fame will always be rooted in his musical genius, since the early 2000s, he has established himself as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his screen acting work. Bey's recently updated moniker has both fans and critics excited for what is to come next from the storied hip hop icon. Says Bey: "Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name. but it's time to expand and move on."