He’s since formed a jazz quintet and garnered acting awards, but he’s returning to the hip-hop world in a major way with The New Danger, his sophomore solo effort. The album drops October 12 and he’ll set out a few days later on a nationwide club tour, beginning in Seattle October 18 and wrapping November 13 in Anaheim.

Mos Def has made a series of high-profile performances recently, including an October 4 appearance at the ACLU Freedom Concert in New York City, where he did a rendition of Gil Scott-Heron‘s “New York” along with the national anthem and one of his own tunes. He also performed on “The Late Show With David Letterman” with his Black Jack Johnson Band in late September.

Apart from those recent dates, Pollstar‘s database only lists three Mos Def shows in the last year and a half, but they’ve all been sellouts – one with Gang Starr and two with Pharoahe Monch.