Mos Def
Born: December 11 1973
Where: Brooklyn, New York, USA
The hip-hop superstar - whose name means "most definitely" - is making headway as an actor after landing a critical hit in Monster's Ball opposite Halle Berry.
Other appearances include Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Spike Lee's Bamboozled and the American remake of The Italian Job.
Early appearances included the American TV programmes God Bless The Child and You Take The Kids.
He made his film debut in Michael Jacksons' Ghosts and also landed parts in Where's Marlowe?, Island of the Dead and Bamboozled.
He originally was catapulted to hip-hop fame with the release of Universal Magnetic in 1996.
Wtih Talib Kweli he formed Black Star, whose debut Mos Def and Talib Kweli are...Black Star would become one of 1998's most critically acclaimed albums.
In 2002, he appeared in the romantic comedy Brown Sugar and the following year in the American remake of The Italian Job as Left Ear.
He starred in the controversial paedophile drama The Woodsman as a cynical cop and was also alien Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
His odd vocal performance as a court-bound witness in action thriller 16 Blocks was described as "Donkey to Bruce Willis's Shrek".
