Yasiin Bey discography

The discography of Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), an American rapper, consists of five solo studio albums, five collaborative studio albums, four compilation albums, one extended play, and 29 singles (11 as a featured artist). In 1994, Bey began his hip hop career in the underground rap group, UTD (Urban Thermo Dynamics), alongside his sibling group members DCQ and Ces, after which he pursued a solo career.^[1] In 1998, he made his mainstream debut on Rawkus Records in the duo Black Star, with rapper Talib Kweli. "Definition", the lead single from Black Star's self-titled debut album, reached No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.

Yasiin Bey / Mos Def discography
Studio albums	5
EPs	1
Compilation albums	4
Singles	18
Music videos	30
Collaboration albums	5
Features singles	11

In 1999, Yasiin Bey released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides, which was certified Gold in the US and featured the singles "Ms. Fat Booty", which reached No. 20 on the US Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart, and "Umi Says", which reached No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart. Bey performed on several compilations from Rawkus Records and other independent compilation albums. Among them was the single "Oh No" with Pharaohe Monch and Nate Dogg which reached No. 83 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles. In 2001, his single "Jam on It" from Underground Airplay Version 1.0 reached No. 23 on the Hot Rap Tracks. In 2002, he appeared on the track "Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet)" on the soundtrack to the film Brown Sugar. Featuring Faith Evans, "Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet)" reached No. 95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

In 2004, Yasiin Bey released his second solo album The New Danger, in which he experimented with other genres such as rock and R&B.^[2] The single "Sex, Love & Money" reached No. 90 on the R&B chart. Later the same year saw the release of UTD album Manifest Destiny under the independent label Illsion Media, run by Bey's brother and fellow group member DCQ. The album featured a compilation of previously unreleased and re-released tracks recorded during the original UTD run.^[3] Bey's third solo album, Tru3 Magic, was released in 2006 to very little hype. Its single "Undeniable" charted only on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart but was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 2007.

Yasiin Bey's fourth solo album The Ecstatic was released in 2009 on Downtown Records with distribution by Universal Records.^[4] His fifth album Negus was exclusively premiered during Art Basel in Hong Kong on March 29, 2019. According to a press release, it will never receive a physical or digital release but will be displayed at sound installations around the world.^[5]

In April 2022, a release date for the long-awaited Black Star project was officially announced. The album titled No Fear of Time was released via Luminary on May 3, 2022.^[6] In 2024, Bey announced an extended play Money Christmas, his first solo project in five years. It debuted on December 15 as a pay-per-view livestream on Bandcamp, and is set to release on March 15 the following year.^[7] Also, the same month the EP was released, Bey announced a new project with the Alchemist titled Forensics, which premiered on February 7 with a pay-per-view Bandcamp livestream, and it set to release on March 28.^[8]

Albums

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Details	Peak chart positions								Sales	Certifications
		US [9]	US R&B [10]	US Rap [11]	AUS [12]	CAN [13]	FRA [14]	SWI [15]	UK [16]
Black on Both Sides	Released: October 12, 1999 Label: Rawkus, Universal Format: CD, LP, cassette, digital download	25	3	—	—	—	—	—	110	US: 913,000[17]	RIAA: Gold[18] BPI: Silver[19]
The New Danger	Released: October 12, 2004 Label: Rawkus, Geffen Format: CD, LP, digital download	5	2	1	—	12	103	50	56	US: 513,000[17]	RIAA: Gold[18]
True Magic	Released: December 29, 2006 Label: Geffen Format: CD	77	25	12	—	—	—	—	—	US: 97,000[17]
The Ecstatic	Released: June 9, 2009 Label: Downtown Format: CD, LP, digital download	9	5	2	91	24	172	90	167	US: 168,000[17]
Negus[A]	Released: November 15, 2019 Label: self-released Format: Sound installation	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Collaborative albums

Title	Details	Chart positions
		US [9]	US R&B [10]
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)	Released: September 29, 1998 Label: Rawkus, Priority Format: CD, digital download, LP	53	13
Manifest Destiny (with UTD)	Released: October 26, 2004 Label: Illson Media Format: CD, digital download, LP	—	—
December 99th (with Ferrari Sheppard, as Dec 99th)	Released: 2016 Label: A Country Called Earth Format: CD, digital download, LP	—	—
No Fear of Time (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)	Released: May 3, 2022 Label: Luminary Format: streaming	—	—
Forensics[20] (with The Alchemist)	To be released: TBA Label: ALC Format: streaming	—	—

Compilation albums

Title	Details
We Are Hip-Hop: Me, You, Everybody	Released: 2002 Label: Sattan Format: CD
Mos Definite	Released: April 20, 2007 Label: Frequent Format: CD
We Are Hip-Hop: Me, You, Everybody, Pt. 2	Released: 2008 Label: Sattan Format: CD
Audio 3	Released: 2008 Label: Oarfin Format: CD

Extended plays

Title	Details
Money Christmas[7]	To be released: March 15, 2025 Label: Self-released Format: Streaming

Singles

Solo

Title	Year	Chart positions				Certifications	Album
		US Bub. [21]	US R&B [22]	US Rap [23]	UK [16]
"Universal Magnetic"	1997	—	—[A]	—	—		Soundbombing
"Ms. Fat Booty" / "Mathematics"	1999	—	54	20	85		Black on Both Sides
"Umi Says"		—	—	—	60
"Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet)" [featuring Faith Evans]	2002	—	95	—	—		Brown Sugar (soundtrack)
"Sex, Love & Money"	2004	—	90	—	—		The New Danger
"Close Edge"		—	44[B]	—	—
"Ghetto Rock"		—	—	—	—
"Sunshine"	2005	—	—	—	—
"Undeniable"	2006	—	31[B]	—	—		True Magic
"Life in Marvelous Times"	2008	—	—	—	—		The Ecstatic
"Quiet Dog Bite Hard"	2009	—	—	—	—
"Casa Bey"		—	—	—	—

• A. ^ Charted only on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, a 25-song extensions of the original Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
• B. ^ Charted only on the Hot Singles Sales or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts.

Collaborative singles

Title	Year	Chart positions				Album
		US [24]	US R&B [22]	US Rap [23]	UK [16]
"Body Rock" (with Tash & Q-Tip)	1998	—	65	21	—	Lyricist Lounge, Volume One
"Definition" (with Talib Kweli)		60	31	3	—	Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
"Respiration" (with Talib Kweli featuring Common)	1999	—	54	6	—
"Oh No" (with Pharoahe Monch featuring Nate Dogg)	2000	83	22	1	24	Lyricist Lounge 2
"Black Iz Back" (with Mau Maus)						Bamboozled (soundtrack)
"Sensei on the Block" (with Ski Beatz)	2015	—	—	—	—	Non-album single

• A. ^ Charted only on the Hot Singles Sales or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts.

As featured artist

Title	Year	Chart positions				Album
		US Bub. [21]	US R&B [22]	US Rap [23]	US Alt
"The Love Song" (Da Bush Babees featuring Mos Def)	1996	17	66	15	—	Gravity
"Bullshittin' (B.S.'n...)" (N'Dea Davenport featuring Mos Def)	1998	—	101	—	—	N'Dea Davenport
"Travellin' Man" (DJ Honda featuring Mos Def)		13	76	17	—	h II
"B-Boy Document" (The High & Mighty featuring Mos Def and Skillz)	1999	—	63	7	—	Home Field Advantage / Soundbombing II
"A Brighter Day" (Ronny Jordan featuring Mos Def)		—	54[A]	20	—	A Brighter Day
"Six Days (Remix)" (DJ Shadow featuring Mos Def)	2002	—	38[A]	—	—	Six Days 12"
"Wylin' Out" (with Diverse and Prefuse 73)		—	65	—	—	Urban Renewal Program
"Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong)" (Floetry featuring Mos Def)	2003	—	116	—	—	Barbershop 2: Back in Business (soundtrack) / Floacism "Live"
"Bin Laden" (Immortal Technique featuring Mos Def)	2005	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
"Magnetic Arts" (DJ Honda featuring Mos Def)	2009	—	—	—	—	DJ Honda IV
"Stylo" (Gorillaz featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack)	2010	3	—	—	24	Plastic Beach

• A. ^ Charted only on the Hot Singles Sales or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts.

Other appearances

Year	Song	Artist(s)	Album
1996	"Intro"	Da Bush Babees	Gravity
	"S.O.S."
	"Big Brother Beat"	De La Soul	"Stakes Is High"
	"Stakes Is High (Remix)" [also featuring Truth Enola)]		"Itzsoweezee (HOT)"
	"Shinjiro"	DJ Krush	MiLight
1997	"Light (Can You See It?)"		Holonic-The Self Megamix
	"BMT"	Towa Tei, Biz Markie	Sound Museum
	"If You Can Huh..."	—	Soundbombing
1998	"Crying at Airports (Shawn J. Period Remix)"	Whale	"Four Big Speakers"
	"World Famous"	Funkmaster Flex	The Mixtape Volume 3: 60 Minutes of Funk, The Final Chapter
	"Rock Rock Y'all"	A Tribe Called Quest, Punchline, Wordsworth and Jane Doe	The Love Movement
1999	"Double Trouble"	The Roots	Things Fall Apart
	"Next Universe"	—	Soundbombing II
	"Cross Town Beef"	Medina Green, DCQ
	"Tinseltown to the Boogiedown"	Scritti Politti	Anomie & Bonhomie
	"If It's Alright Y'all"	Brixx	Superrappin: The Album
	"Foundation"	DJ Honda	h 2000
	"All Praises Due"	A.D.L.I.B.	Urban Renewal: Word on the Street
2000	"Saturday Nite" (J Dilla Remix)	Brand New Heavies	Delicious Vinyl Presents... Prime Cuts Vol. 1
	"Hurricane"	Common, Black Thought, Dice Raw, Flo Brown, Jazzyfatnastees	The Hurricane (soundtrack)
	"Eve"	Spacek	"Eve"
	"You (Feel Good Remix)"	Samuel Christian	Black and White (soundtrack)
	"On My Own"	The Black Eyed Peas, Les Nubians	Bridging the Gap
	"A Tree Never Grown"	A.L., Fre, Grafh, Invincible, J-Live, Jane Doe, Kofi Taha, Rubix, Tame One & Wordsworth	Hip Hop for Respect
	"One Four Love Pt. 2"	Cappadonna, Channel Live, Crunch Lo, Rock, Shyheim & Wise Intelligent
	"What's That? (¿Que Eso?)"	Tony Touch, De La Soul	The Piece Maker
	"The Questions"	Common	Like Water for Chocolate
	"I've Committed Murder (Gang Starr Remix)"	Macy Gray, Gang Starr	Lyricist Lounge 2
	"Ms. Fat Booty 2"	Ghostface Killah
	"Can U C the Pride in the Panther" (Male/Female Version)	2Pac	The Rose That Grew from Concrete
	"Love Rain (Remix)"	Jill Scott	Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds, Vol. 1
2001	"Do Your Best"	Femi Kuti	Fight to Win
	"Jam on It"	DJ Spinbad	Underground Airplay Version 1.0
	"Bounce"	DJ Hasebe	Hey World
	"Reminisce"	Bilal, Common	1st Born Second
	"Get Ta Steppin'"	Hi-Tek, Vina Mojica	Hi-Teknology
	"Street Sounds"	Charlie Hunter Quartet	Songs from the Analog Playground
	"Creole"
	"My Nutmeg Phantasy"	Macy Gray, Angie Stone	The Id
2002	"Seven Days (DJ Premier Remix)"	Craig David	"Seven Days"
	"Breakdown"	—	Brown Sugar (soundtrack)
	"Brown Sugar (Fine)"	Adaritha
	"I Against I"	Massive Attack	Blade II (soundtrack)
	"Freak Daddy"	—	Soundbombing III
	"Mujuo"	Toshinobu Kubota	United Flow
2003	"On the Run"	Mark Ronson, M.O.P.	Here Comes the Fuzz
	"Guess You Didn't Love Me"	Terri Walker	Untitled
2004	"Two Words"	Kanye West, Freeway, Harlem Boys Choir	The College Dropout
	"Living for Today"	Toshinobu Kubota	Time to Share
	"She Wants to Move (Native Tongues Remix)"	N*E*R*D, Common, De La Soul, Q-Tip	"Maybe"
	"Beauty in the Dark (Groove with You)"	The Isley Brothers	Taken to the Next Phase (Reconstructions)
2005	"T.I.M.E."	Scratch Perverts, Black Thought, Stephanie McKay	Fabric Big Issue CD
	"Victory"	K-Salaam, Sizzla	The World Is Ours
	"Love It or Leave It Alone"	Alicia Keys, Common	Unplugged
	"Yo-Yo-Yo (Street)"	Medina Green	"Yo-Yo-Yo (Street)"
2006	"The Corner (Remix)"	Scarface, Common	My Homies Part 2
	"Superstar"	Ge-ology	Facets
	"Where We At"	Jurassic 5	Feedback
	"Here Comes the Champ"	Dan the Automator, Anwar Superstar	Dan the Automator Presents 2K7
	"We Get Down"	Hi-Tek, Bootsy Collins, Raphael Saadiq	Hi-Teknology²: The Chip
	"Let It Go"	Little Brother & DJ Drama	Separate but Equal
2007	"Hey Baby"	Stephen Marley	Mind Control
	"Drunk and Hot Girls"	Kanye West	Graduation
	"Good Night"
	"Brooklyn in My Mind"	9th Wonder, Jean Grae, Memphis Bleek	The Dream Merchant Vol. 2
	"D.A.N.C.E. (Benny Blanco Remix)"	Justice, Spank Rock	†
2008	"No Particular Place to Go"	—	Cadillac Records: Music from the Motion Picture
	"Rising Down"	The Roots, Styles P, Dice Raw	Rising Down
2009	"America"	K'naan, Chali 2na	Troubadour
	"Mountain Sunlight"	Jazz Liberatorz	Fruit of the Past
	"On the Vista"	BlakRoc	BlakRoc
	"Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)"
2010	"Sweepstakes"	Gorillaz, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble	Plastic Beach
	"New York Is Killing Me (Remix)"	Gil Scott-Heron	?
	"Sweetest Fruit"	Baraka Blue	SoundHeart
	"Breakfast"	Curren$y	Pilot Talk
	"The Day" (also featuring Jay Electronica)
	"Prowler 2" (also featuring Jean Grae, Jay Electronica & Joell Ortiz)	Ski Beatz	—
	"Arials" (also featuring Curren$y, Whosane, Terri Walker & Stalley)
	"Cream of the Planet"
	"Taxi" (also featuring Whosane)
	"Lord Lord Lord" (also featuring Swizz Beatz, Raekwon & Charlie Wilson)	Kanye West	G.O.O.D. Fridays
	"Don't Look Down" (also featuring Lupe Fiasco & Big Sean)
2012	"Black Radio"	Robert Glasper	Black Radio
	"It Ain't My Fault"[25]	Preservation Hall, Trombone Shorty, Allen Toussaint	St. Peter and 57th Street
	"The Very Best"	Dee-1, Mannie Fresh	Save the Children
2013	"Freedom Is Everyone's Job"	Preservation	Old Numbers
	"They Die By Dawn and Other Short Stories"	The Bullitts, Lucy Liu, Jay Electronica	They Die By Dawn (And Other Short Stories)
2015	"Back Home"	ASAP Rocky, ASAP Yams, Acid	At. Long. Last. ASAP
	"Never Die"	Golden Rules	Golden Ticket
2016	"Give It Up Today (If I Ruled the World)"[26]	Tara Maq, K'naan, Tink	Chi-Star
	"R.E.D."	A Tribe Called Red	We Are the Halluci Nation
2017	"Buy My App"	Denmark Vessey & Azarias	Buy My Drugs
2018	"Kids See Ghosts"	Kids See Ghosts	Kids See Ghosts
2019	"Education"	MadGibbs, Black Thought	Bandana
	"Treal"	Robert Glasper	Fuc Yo Feelings
2020	"Breathe"	Navy Blue	Song of Sage: Post Panic!
2022	”Stars”	J.I.D	The Forever Story
2024	"Space"	Hypnotic Brass Ensemble	Hypnotic Joints, Vol. 2

Videos

• 1994: Manifest Destiny (Urban Thermo Dynamics)
• 1996: The Love Song (Da Bush Babees featuring Mos Def)
• 1998: Travellin' Man (DJ Honda featuring Mos Def)
• 1998: Body Rock (Mos Def, Q-Tip & Tash)
• 1998: Definition (Black Star)
• 1999: Respiration (Black Star featuring Common)
• 1999: Tinseltown to the Boogiedown (Scritti Politti featuring Mos Def & Lee Majors)
• 1999: B-Boy Document '99 (The High & Mighty featuring Mos Def & Skillz)
• 1999: Ms. Fat Booty (Mos Def)
• 1999: Umi Says (Mos Def)
• 2000: One Four Love (Part 1) (Common, Kool G Rap, Posdnuos, Rah Digga, Sporty Thievz, Black Star, Pharaohe Monch & Shabaam Sahdeeq)
• 2000: Blak Iz Blak (Mos Def, Canibus, Charli Baltimore, MC Serch, Mums, DJ Scratch & Gano Grills)
• 2000: Oh No (Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch & Nate Dogg)
• 2002: Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet) (Mos Def featuring Faith Evans)
• 2004: Two Words (Kanye West featuring Mos Def, Freeway & The Harlem Boys Choir)
• 2004: Ghetto Rock (Mos Def)
• 2004: Sex, Love & Money (Mos Def)
• 2005: Yo-Yo-Yo (Medina Green featuring Mos Def)
• 2005: Dollar Day (Mos Def)
• 2009: Casa Bey (Mos Def)
• 2009: Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (The Black Keys featuring Mos Def & Jim Jones)
• 2009: Taxi (Snippet) (Ski featuring Mos Def)
• 2009: Supermagic (Mos Def)
• 2010: History (Mos Def featuring Talib Kweli)
• 2010: White Drapes (Snippet) (Mos Def)
• 2010: Stylo (Gorillaz featuring Mos Def & Bobby Womack)
• 2010: It Ain't My Fault (Gulf Aid All-Stars featuring Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Mos Def, Lenny Kravitz & Trombone Shorty)
• 2010: Cream of the Planet (Ski Beatz featuring Mos Def)
• 2022: Peppa (Westside Gunn featuring Black Star)
• 2022: So Be It (Black Star)

See also

• Black Star discography

Notes

1. Negus is Yasiin Bey’s fifth studio album, entirely produced by Lord Tusk, Steven Julien, and ACyde and was recorded in London in 2015. Negus was exclusively premiered during Art Basel in Hong Kong on March 29, 2019. According to a press release, the album will never receive a physical or digital release but will be displayed at sound installations around the world.^[5]