Alright, so Chicago artists and natives, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Jennifer Hudson & producer extraordinaire, No I.D. all came together to create a song under the banner of the newest season of Gatorade marketing campaign known as REPLAY. You can get more details about this whole campaign on their official website or peep the studio footage of the artists speaking about the whole project… or you know, just grab the mp3… so many choices ahah.

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download : Lupe Fiasco, Common, Jennifer Hudson – We Can Do It Now (Prod. by No I.D.)

Alright, so I know a couple of you guys were aching to get your hands on a CDQ version of G.O.O.D. Music’s BET Cypher of this year edition that featured a couple of members of their roster including Common, Big Sean, CyHi The Prince, Pusha T and Kanye himself, because what aired on television had the crowd going all over it with cheers and what not. Well here’s the explicit version of it and without the annoying crowd, enjoy.

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download : G.O.O.D. Music – 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher (Dirty/CDQ)

Kanye promised a few weeks back that he’d be dropping new songs every Friday, so far everything he released was top notch and this new week release, G.O.O.D. Friday is no different. Featuring a handful of G.O.O.D. Music artists, G.O.O.D. Friday also mark the first collaboration between G.O.O.D. Music & Pusha-T since he signed to the label.

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download : Kanye West – G.O.O.D. Friday ft. Common, Pusha T, KiD CuDi, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson

John Legend and long time friends The Roots came together and combined their musical talents together to offer us a collaborative album entitled Wake Up! which is set to drop on September 21. To be honest, I initially missed the track when it first dropped as a mp3… I actually listened to the song, but didn’t make a post of it because it was already a bit late pass and figured out that I would wait for the video to drop to post about it, and what do you know, here’s the video. Enjoy.

Musical powerhouses John Legend & The Roots are presenting fans with a fiery new offering, Wake Up! The upcoming CD, being released by Sony Music on September 21, 2010, will feature soulful music from the 60’s and 70’s all with an underlying theme of awareness, engagement and consciousness— effectively telling listeners to Wake Up!

After being inspired by the recent historical Presidential election campaign of 2008, the R&B singer Legend and hip-hop band The Roots felt a need to enter the action. What started as plans for a single quickly developed into a passionate album representing change, hope and activism— not only referencing one particular moment in time, but on a larger scale, holding true no matter what the political climate may be.

The resulting album features eleven profoundly evocative songs infused with sounds of gospel, rock and reggae inflections with hip-hop influences. The album is highlighted by familiar tracks like “Wholly Holy” by Marvin Gaye and “Little Ghetto Boy” by Donny Hathaway mixed with the more obscure selections of Baby Huey and the Babysitters’ “Hard Times,” and “Hang on in There” by Mike James Kirkland.

“These songs sound so relevant now,” Legend says. “On most of them, you wouldn’t change a lyric. ‘Wake Up Everybody’ (the album’s first single, featuring contributions from Melanie Fiona and Common) has four verses—the first one is a general statement, the second is about education, third is about health care, and the fourth is about making a better environment. No editing needed.”

“When these songs were written, people were more spiritually in tune,” says Roots drummer/musical director Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson. “It was fresh from the civil rights era and there was a feeling of hope that maybe, yes, someday we will all be free. In 2010, not so much.”

The album features one original composition, Legend’s song “Shine,” which is featured in Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s upcoming documentary film Waiting for Superman. The song, a “Stevie-Wonder-meets-gospel” stunner, clearly demonstrates the strengths of this specific group of musicians. Wake Up! blends Legend’s expressive, thoughtful vocal interpretations with an element of funk that only The Roots can provide.

Bringing John Legend & The Roots together is an inspired pairing, so logical that it’s a little surprising they haven’t teamed up in a proper collaboration before. John Legend is a six-time Grammy winner whose three albums have all hit Number One on the Billboard R&B charts, and who has collaborated with such artists as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, and the Black Eyed Peas. The Roots—currently visible nightly as the stupendously versatile house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon—have released nine acclaimed studio albums (including the recent How I Got Over) and redefined the relationship between live instruments and hip-hop.

Please visit www.JohnLegend.com for an exclusive look at John Legend & The Roots’ live, studio performance of “Hard Times” and for additional information about Wake Up! – Johnlegend.com

download : John Legend & The Roots – Wake Up Everybody ft. Common & Melanie Fiona

Yes, I’m back from my North Carolina trip, but even if I ended up battered and bruised, like Eli Porter, I MADE IT MAYYYYNE. Jokes aside, I have to thank Ryan for keeping it moving forward while I was away, the guy went in almost every day of the week and I greatly appreciate it.

Anyway, what better way to start the week than the unveilement of the highly awaited G.O.O.D. Music mixtape? I could find a couple, but right now this is topping the list. The mixtape is over 30 songs and features pretty much all the members of the G.O.O.D. Music family and extended family. I’m still in the process of listening to it, but so far I can say that the tape is dope.

Grab it while it’s hot.

thanks to Hypetrak for the player.

download : Perajok and Kanye West Presents: G.O.O.D. Ass Mixtape

I hit up Kanye & asked him if he had the a cappella files for this (which wasn’t out at the time). He gave me the files without hesitation. I turned over this remix rather fast but never finished it because I couldn’t come up with a hook for it. I played it for Kanye & he liked this a lot. So much, in fact, that he was going to reach out to Brandy to lay a hook down on this. Unfortunately, for me, Common didn’t feel this half as much as ‘ye did. So I got the word back from Common & Derek (his management) while they were in Japan that they were going to pass on it. It’s cool though. They are all still my brothers. No love lost. I only hated him for like 5 minutes. *ha* I keeed. I keeed.

You can head to his blog for the rest of the story.

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download : Common – Testify (88-Keys Hand On The Bible Remix)

Here’s an unreleased joint of Common entitled, Strange Fruit, featuring John Legend. This was recorded for Finding Forever, but never made the cut even if Kanye’s production on this is really on point.

Looking back, I have to say that Finding Forever was really an amazing album if you compare it with Common’s latest Universal Mind Control, not that I didn’t like it or anything, but the cold metallic electronic Pharrell produced beats has nothing on Kanye/No I.D. ones in terms of fitting the artist.

download : Common – Strange Fruit ft. John Legend (Prod. by Kanye West)

Consequence’s lead single off his upcoming album Con’s TV gets the G.O.O.D. Music treatment as the remix adds Common, KiD CuDi & Big Sean to the mix. Smooth track overall, now let’s see how Consequence LP will hold up when it drops in December.

download : Consequence – Whatever U Want ft. Kanye West, Common, Kid CuDi, Big Sean & John Legend (G.O.O.D. Music Remix)
download : Consequence – Whatever U Want ft. Kanye West & John Legend (Original)
previously : Consequence – Whatever U Want ft. Kanye West & John Legend (Video)

I have no clue how this project came to fruition, or why they’re doing it, but the results are fairly funny.

Common and Christopher Mintz-Plasse Cinemash “Training Day”
On his inaugral day in the LAPD, valley boy Hoyt, or Common, gets picked up and spun out by the evil Alonzo, or Christopher Mintz-Plasse. By finding his inner Shaman, Common stays aliiiiiive.

New video of the Cudder, for his track Make Her Say featuring Kanye West & Common, all appearing on their sunday best. Seeing Lady GaGa with Wale in his recent video, it would have been cool to see her doing a little cameo in the video, since they basically sampled her song, but then again she’s been dressing up in Kermit The Frog lately.

Actually it wouldn’t have been cool at all, I just wanted to plug the fact that she uses a Kermit The Frog suit as a jacket.

download : KiD CuDi – Maker Her Say ft. Kanye West & Common