Remember the epic song that used to be in the trailer of Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are? If you guys didn’t know, the song was called Wake Up! and was performed by Montreal indie-rock outfit, Arcade Fire. Well, John Legend & The Roots decided to cover it a couple of months back when they were performing at the Amex & Vevo Unstaged concert at NYC Terminal 5, and when you think about it, the album they recently released also sports the name of Wake Up!, but a studio nor live version of the Arcade Fire cover was nowhere to be found on it.

Well they rectified the situation by finally releasing a full fledged studio version of the song earlier this week. Enjoy.

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download : John Legend & The Roots – Wake Up! (Arcade Fire Cover)

Welsh pop star, Duffy, is currently set to release her sophomore album, Endlessly, on November 29th in the UK, and December 7th in North America. She just unveiled the first single of it entitled, Well Well Well, featuring a surprising collaboration with The Roots on the instrumental.

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download : Duffy – Well Well Well ft. The Roots

I don’t watch Jimmy Fallon on a regular basis, so I don’t know if Justin Timberlake was there just for this segment or if he was a guest during the show. Anyway, this said segment is pretty dope! Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake goes through the repertoire of hip-hop from 80s-90s to now and all that while being backed by Late Night resident house band, The Roots.

rapper’s delight – sugarhill gang peter piper – run dmc paul revere – beastie boys award tour – a tribe called quest humpty dance – digital underground aint nothin but a g thing / califoria love – dr dre / snoop dog / tupac big poppa – notorious big the seed 2.0 – the roots my name is – eminem work it – missy elliot crank dat – soulja boy live your life – ti / rihanna gold digger – kanye west empire state of mind – jay z / alicia keys rapper’s delight – sugarhill gang

thanks to @ARPHOTO for sending it through!

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

The Roots unleashed the video for their latest single, The Fire, featuring the one and only John Legend and directed by no one else than Rik Cordero which basically crafted a short film out of the video. The single is featured on their latest studio album, How I Got Over, which is out as we speak.

download : The Roots – The Fire ft. John Legend

Philadelphie’s very own legendary hip hop group, The Roots unleashed the visuals for their latest single directed by Jason Goldwatch. Dear God 2.0 samples Monster of Folk, a collaboration made possible due to their work on the Late Night show with Jimmy Fallon where they met the band when they performed one night. The song is also found on their ninth and latest studio album, How I Got Over, which was released in stores today, but on iTunes 2 days ago.

download : The Roots – Dear God 2.0

If you are not sure if you’re going to get the album or not, let me present to you another song of the album featuring Blu, Phonte and Patty Cash. Keeping the same vibe from the previous released songs, The Day seems to flow effortlessly from the features to the production and lyrics going from start to finish without a single hiccup, much like the rest of the album.

How I Got Over in stores now.

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download : The Roots – The Day ft. Blu, Phonte & Patty Cash

The Roots unveiled the third single of their upcoming studio album, How I Got Over, with The Fire where we can find R&B artist extraordinaire John Legend once again on the chorus, adding another song to their mutual collaboration count.

How I Got Over drops on June 22nd.

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download : The Roots – The Fire ft. John Legend

Another song off The Roots’ upcoming album How I Got Over was unveiled over Okayplayer today. Much like what they did with the previous song they released, Dear God 2.0, Doin It Again is a reinvention of an original song… this time being one of R&B artist John Legend.

On another note, they are currently working on the visuals for Dear God 2.0, which will drop pretty soon as their album is set to drop on June 22nd.

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download : The Roots – Doin It Again ft. John Legend