Mos Def Wants That Ol' Thing Back, "I'm Retiring The Mos Def Name After 2011"

Rap veteran Mos Def has revealed plans to retire his rap alias by the end of 2011, saying he has lived up to its title and is ready to move forward.

Mos also said he no longer wanted to balance his alias and government name, Dante Terrell Smith.

"I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it. Yasiin. That's it," he revealed. "Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name and it's time to expand and move on. Also, I didn't want to have to deal with having any moniker or any separation between the self that I see and know myself as." (Sucker Free)

In May, The Clipse's Malice detailed plans to get rid of his rap alias.

"I'm not a malicious person, and I don't really like answering to that. I know that people that follow The Clipse or follow my music, they know Malice, so I understand that, I get that," Malice said in an interview. "But you don't want to be under any moniker that's of evil intent, that's not you. I come to more believe that there's so much power in the tongue. The power of the tongue is life and death, so I believe if you are what you fall under whether it's in your subconscious or not. It's just me trying to clean up a little bit. But I haven't thought of that name yet. So Malicious is what it is right now." (Ruby Hornet TV)

Last year, Def made headlines for linking up with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music.

The Brooklyn MC and West talk about the deal and break down their musical relationship in the October issue of XXL, which comes out on Tuesday and features a Kanye cover story. And Mos Def makes an appearance on West's G.O.O.D. Friday single "Lord, Lord, Lord," along with Swizz Beatz, Raekwon and singer Charlie Wilson. Mos' decision to join G.O.O.D. Music follows the release of his last album, The Ecstatic, on indie label Downtown Records in 2009. The rapper/actor and Kanye first collaborated on the Chicago MC's College Dropout, for "Two Words," and then again on "Drunk and Hot Girls" from (MTV)

As of late, the rapper-turned-actor has filmed episodes for the upcoming Showtime series, "Dexter."

When the Showtime series returns this fall for a sixth season, there will be plenty of fresh blood, including Edward James Olmos, Colin Hanks, and Mos Def. The rapper-actor plays Brother Sam, a reformed criminal who runs an auto-body shop. He crosses paths with our resident serial killer when one of his employees comes under investigation. Says executive producer Scott Buck, ''Dexter is unconvinced that Brother Sam is a man who found God and changed his violent ways.'' (Entertainment Weekly)