Here's a little weekend gift for y'all in the form of some ill live performances from some of hip-hop and r&b's elite musicians. "STRIPPED" is a series of live concerts which features artists performing their hit songs and covers without any studio tricks or flashy video effects...just music in it's rawest form. As you'll hear, each performance is very intimate and as result, the tracks take on a new life with a very fresh and original sound. I stumbled over the Alicia Keys & John Legend performances at another blog last week, and just found 5 others from Fabolous, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Robin Thicke, & Ne-Yo. (I'm also working on getting ones from Rihanna, LL Cool J, & Maroon 5.) I haven't gotten a chance to give them all a spin, but from what I've heard...these joints are not to be slept on. If you liked MTV's Unplugged series, then you'll definitely appreciate the vibe here. It's very organic...I mean Kanye actually produced a beat LIVE and then spit over it. If that don't sell you, I don't know what will. Oh and if any of you are weary of live performances cause of the sound quality or whatever, don't sweat this one...there's no audience, and the recordings are very high quality mp3s. You can check out and download all 7 performances below and if you want you can check out the full video performances at the official STRIPPED site....Click here to check it out.



Fabolous - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Make Me Better feat. Ne-Yo
02. Return Of The Hustle
03. Breathe
04. Can’t Let You Go
05. Baby/So Into You/Can't Deny It (Medley)
06. Interview


Robin Thicke - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Lost Without U
02. Complicated
03. Can U Believe
04. When I Get U Alone
05. Lets Stay Together (Al Green Cover)
06. Interview


Young Jeezy - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Soul Survivor
02. I Luv It
03. And Then What
04. Go Getta
05. J.E.E.Z.Y.
06. Interview


Ne-Yo - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Because Of You
02. Do You
03. Sexy Love
04. So Sick
05. Suddenly (Billy Ocean Cover)


Kanye West - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Diamonds From Sierra Leone
02. All Falls Down
03. Gold Digger
04. Jesus Walks
05. Freestyle


John Legend - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. Ordinary People
02. Number One
03. Refuge
04. Visions (Stevie Wonder Cover)
05. Interview


Alicia Keys - Stripped (Raw & Real)
01. No One
02. Like You’ll Never See Me Again
03. If I Ain’t Got You Video
04. Karma
05. Fallin’
06. Tender Love (Force MDs Cover)