Mos Def (born Dante Terrell Smith on 11 December 1973 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American hip hop artist and actor. He also goes by the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante, A White Man's Favorite Rapper and Pretty Flaco. 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.