Def Jef (born Jeffrey Fortson) is an American alternative hip hop artist and rapper of the late 1980s and early 1990s. His debut album was 1989's Just a Poet With a Soul, which won critical acclaim for sociopolitical lyrics and original beats. He was unable to live up to the expectations for his second album, however, and Soul Food, was a critical and commercial failure. Def Jef moved into production, working with Nas, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur, among others, as well as appearing in films like Deep Cover in 1992 (see 1992 in film).