Watch Black Star Perform (With The Roots) On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

The legendary duo of Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (man it's gonna take awhile to stop calling him Mos Def) gave us a taste of their upcoming Aretha mixtape around Thanksgiving times  with "You Already Knew." Last night, they kicked 2012 off right with a Late Night With Jimmy Fallon performance during which they rocked not only that song live with The Roots but also - hold onto your damn hats, hardcore fans  - "Little Brother," a J Dilla-produced cut that only appeared on the soundtrack to the movie The Hurricane.

Watch both performances below, along with a little vignette of Roots drummer / DJ / vinyl master Questlove discussing the origin of "Little Brother" and how he was in the room when Dilla made the beat for it. Classic stuff, you guys.

Listen: Black Star -- "Fix Up" & "You Already Knew"

Let's get one thing straight first: we love Black Star. The combo of Talib Kweli and Mos De... pardon, Yasiin Bey is pretty much unparalleled, and despite the many teases and false alarms, we're still holding out hope that they'll release a second LP already DAMMIT.

But yeah, things look like they're moving in an awesome, and above all CONCRETE, direction as of late. The duo released their Colbert-Bumped single "Fix Up" on iTunes over the holiday break, and also dropped a new surprise - "You Already Knew," a cut off their apparently forthcoming Black Star Aretha mixtape via Black Star Hub. If the title and above image weren't big enough clues, the project will be a tribute to the Legendary-With-A-Capital-L Aretha Franklin and will drop... sometime next year.

But yeah, you can stream both of these tracks after the jump, and since they're basically fire we're more than happy to set aside our annoyance and keep on waiting for more. Keep on, dudes.

Watch: Black Star On The Colbert Report

Image via Hip Hop Wired

While they unfortunately did not perform at Irving Plaza last night, Mos Def and Talib Kweli DID combine forces as the always awesome Black Star and hit up The Colbert Report. They blazed through the new (!!) track "Fix Up" on the broadcast and a standout (among many) from their self-titled album "Astronomy (8th Light) as a web exclusive. Check out both below - damn, last night was a good night for late night (programming)!

Mos Def And Talib Kweli Are... Still Black Star, Performing This Fall, Maybe Putting Out Another Album Next Year

Image via Soul Culture

Excellent as solo artists and absolutely outstanding when together, Mos Def (soon to be "Yasiin") and Talib Kweli teamed up as Black Star to unleash their classic self-titled debut album way the hell back in 1998. It's one that I still rock on occasion to this day, as do their many fans - so anytime they come back to perform it tends to be a Really Big Deal in my mind.

And that's exactly what they're up to this Fall, with the announcement of a new set of Black Star tour dates that will bring them through NYC's Irving Plaza on October 5. Tickets are still available, and I highly recommend you make it happen - I saw them do this back in 2009 (check out the video for "Brown Skin Lady" after the jump), and it was GREAT.

Upping the ante some, PASTE Magazine has revealed that the duo "guarantees" a release of that mythical second album in 2012. Definitely waiting for a true confirmation on that, but a proper follow-up after a 14-year wait would be nice indeed.