Speaking with MTV this past weekend at Rock The Bells… (aka Yasiin):
Mos Def Says He’s Retiring “Mos Def” Name: “It’s Time To Expand & Move On”
Mos Def Says He's Retiring "Mos Def" Name: "It's Time To Expand & Move On"
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Why such anger towards a name change. And I didnt see this elsewhere but here ( no TV in Bahrain). Reminds me of the scene in Coming to America; call the man Ali, or Mama named him Clay Ima call em Clay. Whats the big deal really, really?
You guys are too easy. So if an artist like Jay -Z decides to call himself a God like Jehova or… wait a second that already happened and people still follow him. SMDH. People are sheeple and promote clown behavior. There is more important news than when these clowns change their names. That’s what upsets me. The fact that a name change becomes news and here we are as a black community and there is no work or funded films in Hollywood but it’s important for Mos Def to have attention about his name change???
Well this didn’t really bother me. But I don’t understand why he’s changing his name. He states in the interview he didn’t like hiding behind a moniker and yet he’s given himself another one. Or maybe I just missed that. Also, is he no longer rapping? Is that why he’s changing his name because he’s going to act exclusively now?
idk. i always hate adjusting to calling folks by their new names. and sometimes, folks like diddy do come off as clowns. but i appreciate that Mos, soon to be Yasiin, isn’t going to be an ass about the change, no anger and what not. and if you go by what he actually said, it draws the rest of us closer to the person he feels himself to be, which makes sense if you’re trying to be an honest artist rather than always performing your public persona. in that sense, i support the change. it’s easy to be cynical with regards to celebrities but not everyone is full of it.
i believe he changed his name to yasiin in accordance with his cultural and/or religious beliefs. are people not allowed to do that without invoking the ire of others? even if it wasn’t for those aforementioned reasons, it seems a bit weird to spaz out over a person’s right to be called what they want to be called.
I like him. Nothing about his roles or personality shouts “clown” to me but maybe you’ve seen more of him than I have. Still, why doesn’t he just use his real name instead of another moniker?
What self-important absurdity! So he’s actually changing it at the end of the year, huh? How kindly considerate of him — give us, his fawning public — enough time to adjust to the important change. Why do we accommodate such foolishness from these man/boy rappers/entertainers? I enjoy his acting, but until Mos Def — or Yasiin — or whomever he wants to call himself produces a musical body of work as substantial as Prince’s I’m not so willing to play these little name games with him (that goes for P-Diddy/Puff Daddy/etc., too)!
But, darkan, at least he is American. :)
Seriously though I don’t begrudge Mos Def like the other rappers because he started as an actor first. Hip-hop became his second career.
What a clown. These actors used to be rappers are clowns. This is what happens when we stick microphones in the faces of artists who think they are more enlightened or “illuminated” then the average man or woman. What a clown. SMDH.
Mos Def is great as a actor but I really hate when someone changes there name like that it is understandable in some cases but Mos Def thats not that bad of a name.