Little Brother was another featured artist on the Hip Hop Live tour this past year, performing with the live band, the Rhythm Roots All-Star. Hearing 9th wonder’s beats performed by a band was truly special.  Here is “The Way You Do It” live from the Minneapolis tourdate of the Hip Hop Live 2008 tour.

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B.o.B. is the latest sensation to come out of Atlanta and is already doing big things at the tender age of 20.  He was one of the featured performers on this past summer’s Hip Hop Live Tour, along with Little Brother, David Banner and Talib Kweli.  When the tour rolled through NYC, B.o.B. hit the stage at the Nokia Theatre backed by the live band Rhythm Roots All-Stars.  He may be a youngin, but his stage presence is that of a veteran and he had the crowd’s full attention.  Here is his performance of “Generation Lost” from that night.

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I strongly believe Wale is next in line to really blow up this year once his debut albums hits shelves this April and he emerges into the mainstream.  This show was a strong indication of his rising popularity, selling out the Highline Ballroom without an official album released and attracting the likes of Jay-Z and Leonardo DiCaprio to attend the concert.  Backed by the incredible go-go band, UCB, here’s Wale performing “The Artistic Integrity”.  The beat switch mid song to Jay-Z’s “Can I Live”, blaring horns and all, is a fantastic surprise and reminds me a lot of something The Roots would do.

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Q-Tip headlined the 2K Sports Bounce Tour this year in support of his latest release, The Renaissance, and was backed by a full live band and DJ Scratch.  Tip has always been one of the better live performers in hip-hop, and this tour was a prime example of his talents.  This rendition of ‘Electric Relaxation” was the highlight of the show, with the band breaking down the track into some real nice jams towards the end.

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In anticipation of his upcoming release, YES!, here is a dope live track from K-Os to whet your appetite . If you cant wait for the album to hit shelves this March, head over to Indaba, where you can download stems of 11 of the album’s tracks and enter into his remix contest.  I must say, YES! is shaping up to potentially be his best effort to date, and this is coming from someone who absolutely loves his previous work.  Its a shame K-heaven rarely tours outside of Canada because (when sober) he puts on an amazing show and his band is as good as it gets.

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It was the end of an era- the last hip-hop show ever at the Knitting Factory, one of the most esteemed music landmarks in New York City.  And what better way to go out with a bang than to have the best emcee on the planet, Black Thought performing an extremely rare solo show, backed by DJ Questlove and accompanied by wingman, Truck North.  Riq Geez absolutely destroyed the stage, spitting his razor sharp lyrics with astounding breath control over rare breakbeats served up by Questlove.  Black Thought most definitely proved he can hold his own without The Legendary Roots Crew backing him. This is one you do not want to miss.

Note: This is the entire 30 min set from the show.

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