Regarded as one of hip-hop's most introspective and insightful artists, Mos Def has shaped a career that transcends music genres and artistic medium. A child of hip-hop's Golden Era, the native Brooklynite spent his childhood imbedded in the culture surrounding him as well as absorbing knowledge from across the artistic spectrum. With the release of Universal Magnetic (1996) Mos became an underground favorite in the hip hop world, leading to his legendary collaboration with Talib Kweli. The two formed Black Star whose debut album, Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star, would become one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums. Mos followed that release with his 1999 solo debut, Black On Both Sides, which was certified gold and credited by critics as bringing hip-hop back to its soapbox roots. Mos Def received rave reviews for his role as Ford Prefect in the film adaptation of the classic Douglas Adams science fiction novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. The film debuted at #1 at the Box Office when it hit theaters in April of 2005. In 2005 Def also wrapped his first nation concert tour in four years. Entitled the Breed Love Odyssey Tour, the outing reunited him with Talib Kweli. Mos Def also starred with Bruce Willis as "Eddie Bunker" in 16 Blocks. The film was directed by Richard Donner and released in March 2006. He also made an appearance in the 2006 release of Dave Chappell's Block Party (Focus Features). Def just completed work on Journey to the End of the Night in which he co-stars alongside Brendan Fraser. The film will also hit theaters in 2007. Mos Def's latest album, titled True magic (Goodtree Media/Geffen Records), was released in December 2006. Currently, Mos Def is working on an array of new film, book and television projects. The artist recently completed filming Be Kind, Rewind directed by Michel Gondry in which he starred alongside Jack Black. The film was shot in New Jersey and is set to be released in 2007. Mos Def is also working on the production of a book called Black, 2.0 by Mos Def. The production, a heavily illustrated and innovatively designed compendium of significant moments and movements, artifacts and icons of the past 35 years of black culture, is slated to be published in Fall 2008 (The Doubleday Publishing Group, part of Random House, Inc). Def will be back to host the 6th season of the acclaimed HBO series Def Poetry. New episodes of the Peabody award winning series are set to debut on HBO in 2007.