John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!

‘Wake Up!’ a collaboration between John Legend and underground hip hop band, The Roots, is a unique, refreshing and poignant album. Best known for their jazzy, neo-soul/rnb sounds, here the eclectic rhythms of the band’s instrumentals are perfectly partnered with Legend’s soulful vocals and some timely (and timeless) subject matter. 

Inspired by the almost-revolutionary zeal of the Obama Presidential campaign in 2008, Legend, who was heavily involved in the crusade, hooked up with The Roots to commemorate that moment of change. The result is a studio recording of just covers – soul music from the radical era of the 1960s and 70s, when inequality and mass social change co-existed. The artists’ twenty-first century interpretations of some of the most obscure songs of that period is so seamless and contemporary that it requires real concentration to actually realise that these are covers.

‘Wake Up!’ the title track, with two different versions bookending the record, is an uplifting anthem which calls for greater accountability from those in positions of social responsibility; doctors, teachers, builders to ‘change together’. Tracks such as ‘Wholy Holy’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘Little Ghetto Boy’ by Donna Hathaway, and ‘Hang on in There’ by Mike James Kirkland cast light on the collective ills that still exist, carry messages about social awareness, engagement, and consequently incite the kind of social action that was relevant then, and continues to be today. The album reaches its climax with ‘I Can’t Write Left Handed’, originally performed by Bill Withers, an eleven-minute saga about a single Vietnam War soldier, which has telling parallels to today’s war-torn situations. The lyrics tell the story from the perspective of a young man who got shot. Legend’s jarring vocals are underscored by some simple piano chords, drum beats and a gospel backing, which reach their crescendo in a three-minute culmination of guitar riffs, cymbals and the sax. And finally, ‘Shine’ is the only original track, written and performed by Legend, and is a beautiful ballad proclaiming the potential of every individual to ‘shine’, if given the appropriate human opportunities to which we’re all entitled.

Within the increasing apathy of today’s popular culture, this album shines as a timely reminder of the interconnectedness of human beings and the responsibilities we have to each other and our world. From its socially-conscious themes to its grass-roots undertones, the album offers a sense of hope and encouragement for the progressively desolate and disparate state of humanity. That, and it just sounds really good! [Image from www.rap-up.com]