K’Naan may not be a household name just yet, but the young emcee out of Somalia made a splash on the hip hop scene when he released The Dusty Foot Philosopher back in 2005.  Its been a long wait, but he’s finally back with the release of Troubadour next week.  K’Naan has been performing one song on the album, “Waving Flag”, for many years and I was glad to see it finally find an official release on the new record.  However, I was a bit surprised to see that the album version has been drastically changed, with new lyrics and a very differnet tone.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, and the live version will always be way more powerful to me.  So, as many of you havent heard this alternate version, here’s your chance to give it a listen/download.  He starts performing all the lyrics acapella so you can focus more closely on the story, then goes into the rendition with his band.  Definitely dont miss this one, and if you havent heard either of his albums yet, you’re missing out on some incredible international hip-hop music.

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Here are two Brother Ali verses that are a prime example of why he’s consistently been one of the best on the mic for over a decade.  The first is an unreleased song which he performed at Highline Ballroom in NYC at the CMJ Showcase with Evidence and Little Brother joining him on the bill.  I have also included a video of another acapella performance of this song with additional verses from a couple weeks ago.  Next up is Brother Ali’s verse from “2nd Time Around”, a song he did with Wale which can be found on DJ Benzi’s The New Deal Mixtape.  This rendition is a hundred times more powerful live and is also backed by the live band, The Rhythm Roots All-Stars.

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Noisemakers is basically the hip hop version of Inside The Actors Studio, according to Peter Rosenberg, who hosts the series.  ?uestlove of The Legendary Roots Crew was the honoree at this particular showcase.  ?uest gave insight into his childhood and playing in his father’s band, the lifespan of The Roots and a whole lot more with some hilarious and engaging stories never before told to the public.  He also showed off his talent on the drums throughout the interview to add more flavor to his tales, which was a great touch.  Here is my near complete, exclusive recording of the interview (missing last 30 minutes or so unfortunately, but its still 2 hours in length).

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By far the most unique concert I’ve been to.  Two stages: The Roots & Antibalas.  A bunch of themed rounds, with challenges such as finishing the other band’s song, playing their songs in different genres, covers, etc.  Definitely a fun night all around and was well worth the trip I made up to Boston to capture it.  Here is Antibalas performing “Dirt and Blood”, with The Roots taking over midway as well as The Roots’ “Please Dont Go” with Antibalas closing the song.  Of course, for complete concert downloads of The Legendary, be sure to head over to TheRootsLive.com after checking out these jams.

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Blackstar headlined the 2007 Black August festival, and with Common being one of the acts on the bill, it would be a crime if the trio didnt perform Respiration.  So of course they did and it was pretty dope if I do say so myself.  Check it out…. and yes, you do hear the “Move Somethin” horns for a brief sec… DJ fucked up at the best moment of the night… go figure.

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Elitaste hooked up a soundboard source of Wale’s complete set from his show at Mezzanine last week.  From what I gather, the energy of the crowd was amazing and the show itself is sick.  Wale, and his backing Go Go band, UCB, absolutely killed it.  He also performed 2 songs from his upcoming debut release, “Pretty Girls” and “Chillin”.  Hit the jump for the tracklist and the link.

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