Prior to his career in music, Mos Def entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television films, sitcoms, and theater. Since the early 2000s, Mos Def has appeared in films such as Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job, The Woodsman, Bamboozled and Brown Sugar, as well as for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the Showtime drama series Dexter. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 2002 and 2007.\n', '

Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism, and the state of African-Americans.\n', '

Mos Def was born as Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdulrahman. The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey.\n', '

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