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Article: A product of the Brooklyn projects during the 1980s crack era, Mos Def is a hip-hop lifer, despite his frequent forays into Hollywood. And he's unafraid to call out his peers: "Extended exposure to commercial rap has got to have some sort of negative psychological impact".(The SPIN Interview)
- Article from:
- SPIN Magazine
- Article date:
- August 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 SPIN Media LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DANTE "MOS DEF" SMITH walks the walk and talks the Talk--literally. This past May, he led me on a four-hour interview ramble around Manhattan's SoHo and West Village, stopping into bodegas and smoke shops, greeting fans, giving hugs and pounds, posing for cellphone photos, like the hip-hop ambassador of some conscious-rap dream sequence. But the Brooklyn-born MC, 35, is a knottier figure than such hail-fellow appearances imply. He's a Broadway and Hollywood actor of subtly complex gifts (Topdog/Underdog, The Woodsman, Something the Lord Made); a fearless, if egocentric, tester of musical boundaries, often to the detriment of his own career ...