For nearly a decade, KT Tunstall was a scruffy busker, singing on the streets and on the pub circuit in England and Scotland. And then, there was that moment, a fluke really, when the rapper Nas dropped out of a London TV appearance and Tunstall was his last-minute replacement. Tunstall opens up to Sound Tracks "Quick Hits" reporter Mirissa Neff about the rocket ride of success.

Here's KT Tunstall on stage at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco during her current U.S. tour. This is KT in full "tiger suit" - the term she uses to describe the "armor" of confidence and swagger she puts on to perform. It's also the title of her new album. Segment presented by Sound Tracks.

Imagine if First Lady Michele Obama ran off with Jay-Z on the eve of her husband's re-election. Preposterous. Yet, back in the '70s, the young, attractive wife of Canada's suave prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, did disappear on re-election night and turned up dancing at Studio 54 in New York. Rumors spread of escapades with the Rolling Stones. Segment presented by Sound Tracks.

This song "Fade Like a Shadow," is "an exorcism of a bad relationship," KT Tunstall told us. She said that with a smirk and followed it with a throaty laugh. She's an easy one to like. You can imagine sharing a single malt whiskey with her at one of the olds pubs in Scotland where she learned her craft. Segment presented by Sound Tracks.

When Meklit Hadero sings about love being a "sideways, and back" kind of love affair, we know what she means. "The course of true love never did run smooth," as Shakespeare liked to say. But when Hadero asks her lover in this song to "stay for a minute," we can't imagine there was much hesitation on his part.

This is a song about refugees - a reminder of their plight and a tribute to their resilience. In her acoustic version of this new song, Meklit Hadero brings a righteous compassion to an ageless story. Nature's storms, she sings, rage across continents, while "human storms brings people just the same."

Sound Tracks "Quick Hits" reporter Mirissa Neff interviews singer/songwriter Meklit Hadero at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco. With that familiar flower in her hair and a megawatt smile, Hadero immediately puts a visitor at ease and opens up about her life and music - from her origins in Ethiopia to her love of jazz.

Once upon a time in the music industry, when an artist released a new album, the promo guys would always ask, "What's the single?" For Meklit Hadero's CD, "On a Day Like This," we have a quick answer: "Leaving Soon." It's irresistible. This intimate performance at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco features Darren Johnston on trumpet. Serene Fang directed our nighttime shoot.

Meklit Hadero performs a song for a small crowd.

Sound Tracks"Quick Hits" reporter Marco Werman interviews Brazilian singer and actor Seu Jorge before his summer concert at the Royale in Boston. Seu Jorge talks about his new surf and beach-inspired "ocean music," his interpretations of rock classics, and a family tragedy that has shaped his life and his music.

Definitely some hip beach music. The word "cirandar" refers to an old Portuguese dance. Think of this as Seu Jorge's serenade to the sea in which he asks an ocean goddess to "protect the fisherman" and "give the singers a good voice." We couldn't resist adding some nostalgic images of fisherman at work. It's unmistakably Brazilian, but it also has the undertow of that '60s surf guitar sound.

Just before his Boston concert, with the sun setting over the Charles River, and street traffic below, Seu Jorge pulled out his guitar and sang a song for us on the fire escape outside the Royale theater. It's called "Oluan," a term from the Yoruba culture and religion in northeast Brazil.

Sound Tracks "Quick Hits"reporter Marco Werman interviews Italian pop star Jovanotti before his summer concert at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco. Jovanotti talks about his evolution from the teen idol who introduced rap to Italy to the inventive performer and activist who campaigns with his friend Bono to reduce extreme poverty in Africa. Jovanotti also sings two impromptu ballads.

Italy's pop superstar, Jovanotti, performs his hit song, the dance party anthem known as "L'Ombelico del Mondo" or "The Bellybutton of the World" at San Francisco's Stern Grove Festival. Rome once called itself the naval or center of the world, and Jovanotti's song is certainly a celebration of Italy, but it's also a shout out to a new millennium and cultures from all over the world. Play it loud.

Introducing this new song as a tango from his album "Safari," Jovanotti starts "Dove Ho Visto Te" ("Where I've Seen You") in a mellow groove before cranking up the tempo. The song is about a well-traveled man who finds a woman who inspires his music and words. In an ecstatic chorus, he sings, "Kiss me, eat me, leave me, take me, forgive me, use me, believe me, save me, feel me."

The story of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti is now a high-energy Broadway musical starring Sahr Ngaujah and directed by Bill T. Jones. Watch this scene to see why audiences are dancing in the aisles.

After producing "A Man Like Putin," songwriter Alexander Yelin is continuing his pursuit of another mega-hit. These days, he is promoting an all-girl heavy metal band with a wolf-ish name, Free Pack. Check out their song, "My Day." The singer wishes her night could last forever.

What is it with Russians and their authoritarian leaders? Stroll on Red Square with reporter Alexis Bloom and Putin look-alike Anatoly Gorbunov to explore Russia's love-hate relationship with their despots. Then meet Roman Dobroxhodov, a leading dissenter who dares to speak out against Putin.

In March 2005, Seun Kuti joined world music star Youssou N'Dour in Dakar, Sengal for a festival of African music dedicated to fighting malaria. In "Mosquito Song," Seun chastises governments for neglecting to conduct adequate public health campaigns to prevent malaria, a scourge throughout much of Africa.

Watch Marat Bisengaliev and the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra in Almaty, Kazakhstan perform "Zere: Part 1" composed by Erran Baron Cohen.