Yaasin Bey, better known as esteemed rapper Mos Def, celebrated his retirement from the entertainment industry these past weeks with farewell shows at the Apollo in Harlem and at the Kennedy Center in DC. I caught the January 1 DC performance and waited along with a near-packed house for 50 minutes past advertised start time for the star to take stage. When he finally shambled on in a loose-fitting predominantly white get-up — “Laundry day,” he later explained — the faithful respectfully applauded and quieted down. It was very low-key for such an august venue with the humble Mos often trailing off into mumbles between numbers as he figured out his next song. (He pre-empted audience requests by joking we weren’t there to prep the setlist and that he wouldn’t be able to hear titles due to the room ambience anyway.) The Kennedy acoustics were fantastic, highlighting one of the smoothest and most addictive hip hop voices of the past 20 years as he rattled off a gospel of lyrics the guy behind me knew by heart. The overall enthusiasm remained pretty subdued though until Mos brought out first Pharoahe Monch who got everyone up on their feet with “Oh No!” and then long-lost brother from another brand, Talib Kweli. Together, they lit up five heavy Black Star joints including my favorite, “RE:DEFinition.” But then Kweli left, and so did the fun. Mos brought out a pianist and an upright bassist to accompany him for radically re-conceived lounge versions of “Ms. Fat Booty” and “Champion Requiem.” I left, not doubting his place in the pantheon, just his life choices. The sad thing was I was more entertained by the friendly chatter of the two people sitting behind me before the show began — he does stand-up; she saw De La Soul in October and they started on time!; they both agreed that Black Panther would be “church.” And you can’t paint that!