Wake Up! (John Legend and The Roots album)

Wake Up!
Studio album by John Legend and The Roots
Released September 21, 2010
Recorded 2009–2010
Genre
Length 62:48
Label
Producer
  • John Legend
  • The Roots
John Legend chronology
Evolver
(2008)		 Wake Up!
(2010)		 Love in the Future
(2013)
The Roots chronology
How I Got Over
(2010)		 Wake Up!
(2010)		 Betty Wright: The Movie
(2011)
Singles from Wake Up!
  1. "Wake Up Everybody"
    Released: April 29, 2010
  2. "Hard Times"
    Released: September 7, 2010

Wake Up! is a collaborative studio album by American R&B recording artist John Legend and hip hop band The Roots, released September 21, 2010, on GOOD Music via Columbia Records. It was produced by Legend with band members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and James Poyser, and features guest appearances by CL Smooth, Malik Yusef, Common, and Melanie Fiona, among others. Inspired by the 2008 United States presidential election, Legend and The Roots primarily covered 1960s and 1970s soul music songs for the album with social themes of awareness, engagement, and consciousness.

The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, Wake Up! received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented its production and the artists' treatment and performance of the material. It would go on to win the 2010 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.[1]

Background

Wake Up! follows the releases of Legend's Evolver (2008) and The Roots's How I Got Over (2010). Legend and The Roots were inspired to record a collaborative album by the 2008 United States presidential election.[2] In an interview for Billboard, Legend explained the album's conception at the time, stating "I was in the middle of campaigning for Barack Obama and feeling inspired by the atmosphere in the country at the time, so I wanted to do something musically that reflected that moment. The original idea was to do some sort of covers EP, but the more I got into it with the Roots, it felt like something that should be heard and marketed on its own".[3] The album's title was inspired by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire's song of the same name.[4]

Music

Wake Up! features mostly covers of songs from the soul music of the 1960s and 1970s, and incorporates musical elements from gospel, rock, reggae, and hip hop.[2] Songs covered for the album include "Wholy Holy" by Marvin Gaye, "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey & the Babysitters and "Hang on in There" by Mike James Kirkland.[2] The lone original song for Wake Up! is the Legend-penned album closer "Shine".[5] A different version of "Shine" was included in the album's deluxe edition and is used during the closing credits of the 2010 film Waiting for "Superman".[6] In an interview for The Guardian, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots said that they intended to cover lesser-known soul songs, stating "I wanted to choose cover songs that were so under the radar, so uniquely interpreted, that it would take you a second to realise that these are cover songs [at all]".[4] Questlove has said that the band's instrumentation for the album is looser than on previous albums, with a jamming and "grass-roots feel".[3] Wake Up! contains lyrical themes concerning social awareness, engagement, and consciousness.[2] The Roots' lead MC Black Thought is featured on few tracks, as the band mostly accompanies Legend's singing with live instrumentation.[7] Other rappers featured on the album include Common, CL Smooth, and Malik Yusef.[8]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Wake Up Everybody", a cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes song of the same name, was released on April 29, 2010, and features rapper Common and singer Melanie Fiona.[9] It reached number 53 and spent 14 weeks on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[10] The second single, "Hard Times", was released on September 7, 2010, and has The Roots's lead MC Black Thought as a featured artist.[11]

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
The A.V. ClubB+[14]
The Guardian[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
Mojo[17]
PopMatters[18]
Q[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
Slant Magazine[21]
Spin6/10[22]

Wake Up! received generally positive reviews from music critics.[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[12] Sean Fennessey of The Washington Post called it "a surprisingly rugged enterprise" and complimented The Roots' "brawny arrangements of a cleverly curated batch of songs".[23] About.com's Mark Edward Nero commended their "outstanding job" as a backing band and called Wake Up! "a very moving, extremely well-performed and well-produced album".[7] Rolling Stone writer Jody Rosen called it "a brilliantly conceived and executed album" and stated "Legend and the Roots capture the old feeling of protest and uplift while updating the sound."[20] Jeff Vrabel of Paste called it "organic and opulent, with a heart of diamonds and a lush sound to match".[5] The Boston Globe's Julian Benbow noted Legend's range and stated, "The Roots band practically makes sonic photocopies of the originals".[24] Newsday's Glenn Gamboa stated, "Legend's rich soul vocals and The Roots' equally lush soul arrangements succeed in updating these classics subtly, making them fit admirably both in the past and the present."[25] Steve Jones of USA Today stated, "The Roots contemporize them with just enough hip-hop flavor, while the soulful Legend injects them with renewed passion".[26] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention; he picked out two of its songs ("Compared to What" and "I Can't Write Left-Handed") and called it "A myth of conscious soul neither the singer nor his attendant rappers can quite put across".[27]

Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot noted that "Legend sings with more grit than usual, and the Roots crackle with energy", but stated, "This well-intentioned collection never surpasses the strong originals from which it draws".[28] Mikael Wood of Spin considered that "The results don't always play to [Legend]'s melodic strengths; ?uestlove sounds a bit reined-in, too."[22] AllMusic writer Andy Kellman shared a similar sentiment and commented that "There are several instances when the Roots, who are deeply intimate with grit, outshine Legend, whose polished and pride-rich voice occasionally clashes with the material."[13] Chicago Sun-Times writer Thomas Conner gave it two out of four stars and stated: "Legend might be the weak link; he's not the grittiest singer to be tackling this particular set list – he's often a boy in a man's studio here, especially when he gamely but lamely yeah's through the 12-minute arc of Bill Withers' wartime lament 'I Can't Write Left-Handed' – but his ease mostly makes a dynamic foil for the Roots' muscle and the frequent guest vocals."[29] Zach Cole of URB's criticized Legend's singing as overdone and wrote that the album "run[s] the risk of coming across as entirely cheesy and contrived".[30] Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo found it musically "hollow and brittle" and commented that "Many of these treatments are good, but barely justify what amounts to a good-time vanity project for both acts."[21]

Richard Trapunski of NOW viewed that Legend's "straightforward neo-soul delivery often plays it safe", but concluded: "the expertly curated track list and funky arrangements make it more than a tossed-off vanity project."[31] Despite finding its arrangements unadventerous, Los Angeles Times writer Todd Martens called Wake Up! "a respectable love letter, if not quite an urgent one, to artists who shouldn’t be overlooked" and commended Legend for "stretching out of his [comfort zone]... he packs far more spark here than he did on 2008’s 'Evolver'."[16] David Amidon of PopMatters viewed that Legend "not only delivers his most focused effort yet, but his most diverse".[18] Rupert Howe of Q cited Wake Up! as "one of the finest soul albums of recent times" and complimented Legend's vocal "versatility".[19] Dave Simpson of The Guardian noted Legend's "emotional rawness" and wrote that "many of the tracks have a raw, driving feel along the lines of [Marvin] Gaye's Inner City Blues".[15] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin commented that "The Roots' tight playing serves the songs and their messages rather than the other way around, while Legend has mastered the art of singing expressively without over-emoting."[14] Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail gave the album three out of four stars and commented that they "succeed" in their "attempt to keep these songs 'real' compared to the original versions".[32]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 63,000 copies in the United States.[33] It also entered at number three on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Digital Albums charts.[34][35] In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 31,000 copies.[36] Wake Up! achieved some international charting.[37] In the Netherlands, it entered at number six on the Dutch Album Top 100,[38] and in Switzerland, the album debuted at number 15 on the Swiss Album Top 100.[39] As of August 2013, the album has sold 273,000 copies in U.S.[40]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Hard Times" (featuring Black Thought)Curtis MayfieldBaby Huey & the Babysitters5:13
2."Compared to What"  Eugene McDaniels
6:26
3."Wake Up Everybody" (featuring Common and Melanie Fiona)
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes4:26
4."Our Generation (The Hope of the World)" (featuring CL Smooth)
  • Leon Moore
  • Corey Penn
Ernie Hines3:15
5."Little Ghetto Boy (Prelude)" (featuring Malik Yusef)
——1:58
6."Little Ghetto Boy" (featuring Black Thought)
  • Earl DeRouen
  • Edward U. Howard
Donny Hathaway5:26
7."Hang on in There"  Mike James KirklandMike James Kirkland7:15
8."Humanity (Love the Way It Should Be)"  Lincoln ThompsonPrince Lincoln Thompson and the Royal Rasses3:49
9."Wholy Holy"  
Marvin Gaye5:50
10."I Can't Write Left Handed"  
Bill Withers11:44
11."I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"  
Nina Simone2:42
12."Shine"  John Stephens——4:43

Personnel

Credits for Wake Up! adapted from Allmusic.[41]

Musicians

  • Davis Barnett – viola
  • Owen Biddle – bass, group member
  • Michelle Bishop – violin
  • Black Thought – vocals, group member
  • Randy Bowland – guitar
  • Jeff Bradshaw – trombone
  • Matt Cappy – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Common – vocals
  • Natalie Curtis – background vocals
  • Captain Kirk Douglas – electric guitar, guitar, group member
  • Chris Farr – flute, saxophone
  • Timiney Figueroa – background vocals
  • Melanie Fiona – vocals
  • Ruth Frazier – viola
  • Larry Gold – string arrangements, string conductor
  • Lacey Jones – background vocals
  • Olga Konopelsky – violin

  • Emma Kummrow – violin
  • John Legend – piano, vocals, background vocals, producer, liner notes
  • Jennie Lorenzo – cello
  • Charles Parker – violin
  • Denise Powell – background vocals
  • James Poyser – organ, synthesizer, piano, keyboards, xylophone, producer, group member
  • Lenesha Randolph – background vocals
  • Ashley Simpson – background vocals
  • Linwood Smith Jr. – background vocals
  • Tamika Smith – background vocals
  • C.L. Smooth – vocals, lyricist
  • Igor Szweck – violin
  • Gregory Teperman – violin
  • Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson – drums, percussion, producer, group member
  • Matia Washington – background vocals
  • Jessyca Wilson – vocals, background vocals
  • Malik Yusef – lyricist

Production

  • Damien Alexander – A&R
  • Nick Banns – engineer, assistant engineer, vocal recording
  • Dave Bett – art direction, design
  • Dustin Capulong – assistant engineer
  • Jimmy Douglass – mixing
  • Bojan Dugic – engineer
  • Chris Feldmann – art direction, design
  • Michelle Holme – art direction, design
  • Michael Ilbert – vocal recording
  • Ryan Kelly – assistant engineer
  • Dave Kutch – mastering
  • Derik Lee – assistant engineer

  • Meaghan Lyons – A&R
  • Steve Mandel – engineer
  • Anthony Mandler – photography
  • Darren Moore – mixing assistant
  • Joe Peluso – vocal recording
  • Jon Smeltz – engineer
  • Chris Soper – engineer, vocal recording
  • Maki Suzuki – mixing assistant
  • Salamishah Tillet – liner notes
  • Alex Venguer – engineer, vocal recording
  • Ghian Wright – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Dutch Albums Chart[37] 6
Italian Albums Chart[42] 27
Swedish Albums Chart[37] 29
Swiss Albums Chart[37] 15
US Billboard 200[33] 8
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[34] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[43] 49
Chart (2011) Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[44] 71

References

  1. ↑ Grammy.com - Past Winners
  2. 1 2 3 4 MacManus, Christopher (June 28, 2010). John Legend & The Roots Collaborate To Engage Listeners With Wake Up!. Sony Insider. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  3. 1 2 Herrera, Monica (September 17, 2010). John Legend & ?uestlove: The Billboard Cover Story. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  4. 1 2 Michaels, Sean (May 12, 2010). "The Roots and John Legend to release covers album inspired by Arcade Fire". The Guardian. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  5. 1 2 Vrabel, Jeff (September 20, 2010). "The Roots and John Legend: Wake Up! :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  6. ↑ Columnist (January 26, 2010). "'Superman', John Legend 'shine' Sundance light on schools". Associated Press. Retrieved on 2010-09-26.
  7. 1 2 Nero, Mark Edward (September 17, 2010). "Album Review: John Legend and The Roots - 'Wake Up!'". About.com. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Pete (October 2010). "John Legend: Back to My Roots". Blues & Soul. Retrieved on 2010-11-02.
  9. ↑ B.Dot (April 29, 2010). The Roots x John Legend “Wake Up Everybody”. Rap Radar. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  10. ↑ John Legend Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  11. ↑ Big Homie (September 7, 2010). New Music: John Legend & The Roots x Black Thought “Hard Times”. Rap Radar. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  12. 1 2 3 "Critic Reviews for Wake Up!". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  13. 1 2 Kellman, Andy (September 22, 2010). "Wake Up! - John Legend and the Roots". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  14. 1 2 Rabin, Nathan (September 28, 2010). "John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  15. 1 2 Simpson, Dave (October 14, 2010). "John Legend & the Roots: Wake Up! - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
  16. 1 2 Martens, Todd (September 22, 2010). "Album Review: John Legend and the Roots' 'Wake Up!'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  17. ↑ Thompson, Ben (November 2010). "People get ready: John Legend & The Roots Wake Up!". Mojo. p. 97.
  18. 1 2 Amidon, David (September 29, 2010). "John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  19. 1 2 Howe, Rupert (November 2010). "John Legend & the Roots: Wake Up!". Q: 107. Archived from the original on 2010-09-30.
  20. 1 2 Rosen, Jody (September 21, 2010). "Wake Up". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  21. 1 2 Cataldo, Jesse (September 18, 2010). "John Legend and the Roots: Wake Up!". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  22. 1 2 Wood, Mikael (September 9, 2010). "John Legend & the Roots, 'Wake Up!' (Columbia)". Spin. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  23. ↑ Fennessey, Sean (September 20, 2010). "Review of 'Wake Up!' by John Legend an [sic] the Roots". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  24. ↑ Benbow, Julian (September 20, 2010). "John Legend and the Roots, 'Wake Up!'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  25. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (September 17, 2010). "John Legend's thrilling 'Wake Up!' call". Newsday. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  26. ↑ Jones, Steve (September 21, 2010). "Listen Up: 'Wake Up!' and hear the inspiration from Legend, The Roots (John Legend and The Roots, Wake Up!: Past Times, Our Times)". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  27. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: John Legend & the Roots". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  28. ↑ Kot, Greg (September 16, 2010). "Turn It Up: Album review: John Legend and the Roots, 'Wake Up!'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  29. ↑ Conner, Thomas (September 23, 2010). "Maroon 5, 'Hands All Over'; John Legend & the Roots, 'Wake Up!'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  30. ↑ Cole, Zach (September 20, 2010). "John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!". URB. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  31. ↑ Trapunski, Richard (September 30-October 7, 2010). "John Legend and The Roots: Wake Up! (Sony)". NOW. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  32. ↑ Wheeler, Brad (September 20, 2010). "Disk of the week: John Legend". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  33. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (September 29, 2010). Zac Brown Band Bows At No. 1 on Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-09-30.
  34. 1 2 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Week of October 9, 2010. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-10-01.
  35. ↑ Digital Albums - Week of October 9, 2010. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-10-01.
  36. ↑ Jacobs, Allen (October 10, 2010). Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 10/3/2010. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-10-09.
  37. 1 2 3 4 Album Performance: Wake Up!. acharts. Retrieved on 2010-09-30.
  38. ↑ GfK Dutch Album Top 100 - 25/09/2010. GfK / Hung Medien. Retrieved on 2010-09-30.
  39. ↑ Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100 03.10.2010. Hung Medien. Retrieved on 2010-09-30.
  40. ↑ "HITS Daily Double: Upcoming Releases".
  41. ↑ Credits: Wake Up!. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.
  42. ↑ "Wake up - fimi.it". fimi.it. Archived from the original on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  43. ↑ "2010 Year-End Charts – Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  44. ↑ "2011 Year-End Charts Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
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