mos def

From its announcement months back, we've been following the development of the BlakRoc project pretty closely. The hip-hop group featuring Akron, OH's garage rock duo The Black Keys immediately stood out to me, and rightfully so. The Black Keys supported by today's best MC's, including Mos Def, Q-Tip, Raekwon, RZA and Pharoahe Monch? Sign me up! The new album never gets cheesy like so many of it's rap/rock predecessors before it, and even with the slew of different rappers, each song flows into one another quite nicely. One of the standout tracks from Blakroc, "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)," features Mos Def singing harmony while Jim Jones takes over the flows. The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach also gets a chance to lay down his signature vocals, but is used as more of a back-up singer with a host of "La La La"'s. Recently, the group made their live television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman for a performance of said track, and it came out sounding as good, if not better than the studio version. Check it out:

In other Mos Def news, apparently he'll be joining artists like Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Barry Gibb and Bobby Womack as a guest on the new Gorillaz album. 2010 should be a great year for music, but this LP might just be my most anticipated.

I've been trying to give Jimmy Fallon a chance since he landed his own late night show, replacing Conan O'Brien as the host that takes care of all of us night owl's. Since his tenure on Saturday Night Live, Fallon has become the awkward actor that is best known for the moments of breaking out of character rather than his comedic skill in the thespian world. His talents as a late night host are still being tweaked with each nightly show, but his ability to pull in talent is uncanny, and has quickly made his show the number one spot for live musical exhibition. The fact that Fallon's house band is the legendary Roots Crew from Philadelphia adds to his indie street cred, but the collaboration with Questlove, Black Thought and crew with all of the guesting acts makes his show immediately worth a watch.

Recently, MC/actor extraordinaire Mos Def teamed up with his partner in crime Talib Kweli for a reunion of their highly acclaimed side project, BlackStar, during a one-off performance backed by both The Roots and the indie-queen tandem of Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle of the growing harmonious indie-weird Brooklyn group, The Dirty Projectors. Being a big fan of BlackStar, The Roots and The Dirty Projectors, this collaboration quickly stood out as a one-of-a-kind performance. While Kweli is featured as more of a back-up vocalist during a run-through of Mos Def's "History" from his most recent LP, The Ecstatic, it still stands out as one of our better Video Omelette's of the year. Give the video a watch:

Hopefully, one day soon, BlackStar will decide to do a nice full length tour that happens to stop somewhere close to me. I will be there with bells on.

I'm always a sucker for a good freestyle from any rapper, but when three of today's top MC's get together and throw out some fresh flows, I'm immediately stuck. Three prominent MC's – Mos Def, The Roots' Black Thought and Eminem – made a nice little video that aired on last night's BET Hip Hop Awards featuring all of them trading off verses to the beats of Houston's own DJ Premier. Not only is this incredibly good, but it hypes me up even more for the ensuing Eminem show I'm about to witness in just a mere two days. Check out the clip:

So freaking good, I can't wait for Voodoo!

Recently, we posted a bit of news about a new hip-hop project based around the blues rock instrumentals of Akron, Ohio's The Black Keys. The project, entitled BlakRoc, features a marquee list of hip-hop's finest MC's tackling The Black Keys' finest beats, all mixed up by famed producer Dame Dash. I can't wait for the new album to be released November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving – better known as Black Friday. For now, they are promoting the album with a series of videos entitled The BlakRoc Sessions, with the first two clips focusing on the beginning of the recording process, and the first collaboration with Mos Def. So far, so good:

I wish November 27th was right now. More videos to come from The BlakRoc Sessions, as soon as they're posted.

You read that right. A new project entitled BlakRoc is set to release their debut album on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, better known as Black Friday. Featuring Akron, Ohio blues-rock duo, The Black Keys, supported by a who's who of hip-hop MC's, BlakRoc is probably the most intriguing act to come out of 2009. Spearheaded by rapper Jim Jones, this project has been brewing since early summer when Mos Def joined The Keys to lay down some of the first tracks in a Brooklyn studio. I could only hope a full grown tour will come out of this, but for now we can only wait until the albums release to get our first taste of this interesting fusion.

Check out BlakRoc's album art and track listing after the jump

Eggs and I went to Mos Def at the House of Blues this past Wednesday, joined by our buddy Demian and a completely packed house. By the end of the night, Mos Def had undoubtedly proved that he merited the weeknight sell-out. And thanks to a welcome change in policy by HOB, we didn’t even leave the place disappointed by the show’s length - as we did at April’s Parliament Funkadelic show.

Read about the show after the jump

Mos Def and Jay Electronica at House of Blues.
Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm.
Tickets are $25.

Call me white, but I absolutely love hip-hop extrordanaire Mos Def. Wether it's his solo material, his colaboration with MC Talib Kweli in Black Star, or even his foray into the world of acting, Mos Def always lays his undeniable talent on the table for every project he takes on. I took a trip to Mos' MySpace page to browse some tour dates, but was quickly distracted by a blog entry entitled "Watch Mos Def a cappella on the streets of Japan!" Filmed by Al Gore's pet project Current, Mos Def flows sans beats through three tracks from his 2009 LP The Ecstatic, all while roaming the streets of Tokyo – "Auditorium," "Casa Bey" and "The Embassy" are all featured.

Check out "Casa Bey" and "The Embassy" after the jump

Starting this week, each BOT team member will select a song to share with our readers each Monday. Some will be from recent albums, others from our archives; all will be tracks that we think you should check out. Read on for our very first batch of featured tunes!

Coffee's first selection is 'Ms. Fat Booty' from Mos Def's 1999 release Black On Both Sides.


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