We said it was coming… and here it finally is. Mos Def live @ Governor’s Island from The Ecstatic tour a few weeks ago. I cant begin to count how many times I’ve seen Mos live, whether its backed by Robert Glasper and friends or with his double-DJ set up, but this tour was a bit unique for Dante. He introduced a modified drumkit into the mix and flexed his talents by drumming while rapping/singing on many of the songs, which was really dope. Of the shows sans his band that I’ve seen, this was hands down the best. But dont take my word for it, check out our exclusive, high quality audio from the set (including his fantastic cover of the late Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”)
Here’s a couple of dope video spotted over at our friends, FROLAB, featuring the mighty Mos Def rockin “Auditorium” and “Quiet Dog” live in Japan. At the end of the first clip, you can catch a sneak peek of Mos Def’s episode of Current Music Presents: Embedded, which will air on October 14th. Mark your calendars, this looks great so far. Also, check back here soon for our live audio of Mos Def killin it in NYC at Governor’s Island.
Common hosted a benefit concert in Los Angeles this weekend with an all-star line up featuring tons of incredible special guests. This was like an unofficial sequel to Dave Chappelle’s Block Party as the line-up of artists was boasted by Common, The Roots, De La Soul, Ludacris, Nas, Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, MF Doom, Queen Latifah, Heavy D and more. If that wasn’t good enough, a mixture of The Roots and Common’s band backed everyone throughout the night. Our newest addition to the staff, AudioMuse, was in the building to record the event exclusively for ATWL. You’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, check out more than a dozen of our exclusive recordings from this incredible event, as well as some video footage from the evening.
Mos Def recently took the stage at the Newport Jazz Festival, backed by his usual supporting cast of Chris “Daddy” Dave, Robert Glasper, Casey Benjamin, Derrick Hodge, a 5-piece strings section and a trio of horns, collectively, The Watermelon Syndicate. I was thrilled to see a hip-hop artist close out the first day of the prestigious jazz festival, really goes to show just how far hip-hop/jazz fusion has come. Mos and his band did a nice mix of his own songs (Casa Bey, Life in Marvelous Times, Umi Says) and covers from a variety of artists such as De La Soul, Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane. What really stood out was his cover of the late Michael Jackson’s Human Nature. It sounded beautiful with the strings, but wasnt a straight up cover as Mos sang different lyrics. Check it out after the jump, as well as his performance of Life In Marvelous Times.
The Roots continue to amaze the NYC-based crowds at their weekly residency at Highline Ballroom. You never know what to expect each week, and recently the sold out crowd was blessed by an appearance from the Black Dante himself, Mos Def. They tore through some hip hop classics covers, Double Trouble, Casa Bey and a jammed out version of Umi Says. As always, the Jams are not rehearsed and done completely on the fly. Without further ado, here’s ATWL/TheRootsLive.com’s exclusive recording of Umi Says and Double Trouble from The Jam (FYI you can hear Black Thought spit a verse from The Roots’ new single during the Umi Says performance). Also check out Mos Def and The Roots performing Casa Bey on the Jimmy Fallon show here.
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