About

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. – Wiki

“The common thread throughout the entire project is revolution and political activism, something the extensive liner notes make blatantly clear. But the song selection is superb enough that the LP works perfectly fine as a straight up funk and soul record. In less capable hands things could get a bit awry, but not only does this band play tight as hell, they each find their moments to showcase individual talents. Legend goes from channeling Eugene McDaniel’s raging, deep soul on “Compared to What?” to harnessing a heretofore seldom heard higher register for the aforementioned reggae jam. Captain Kirk delivers a righteously funky guitar riff for “Hard Times” that adds an extra hundred degrees to the song, and each time Black Thought appears will stir familiar feelings from the Roots’ last few LPs that there is simply not enough of him here.” – Popmatters

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