''Wake Up!'' is a collaborative studio album by American R&B recording artist

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

and hip hop band The Roots, released September 21, 2010, by

GOOD Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

and Columbia Records. It was produced by Legend with band members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and

James Poyser James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots. Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists such as Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, ...

, and features guest appearances by

CL Smooth Corey Brent Penn, Sr. (born October 8, 1968, New Rochelle, New York), known by his stage name CL Smooth, is an American rapper. He is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Career After the duo Pete Rock & CL S ...

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, writer, composer, producer and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Early life He was raised in Chicago's South Side neighborho ...

, Common, and Melanie Fiona, among others. Inspired by the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator f ...

, Legend and The Roots primarily covered 1960s and 1970s

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

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 The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

.Grammy.com - Past Winners
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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

.MacManus, Christopher (June 28, 2010)
John Legend & The Roots Collaborate To Engage Listeners With Wake Up!
Sony Insider. Retrieved on 2010-09-19. In an interview for '' Billboard'', Legend explained the reason for the album's conception at the time, stating "I was in the middle of campaigning for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

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".Herrera, Monica (September 17, 2010)
John Legend & ?uestlove: The Billboard Cover Story
'' Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-09-19. The album's title was inspired by Canadian rock band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member ...

's song of the same name.

Music

''Wake Up!'' features mostly covers of songs from the

of the 1960s and 1970s, and incorporates musical elements from

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, rock,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, and hip hop. 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. The lone original song for ''Wake Up!'' is the Legend-penned album closer "Shine".Vrabel, Jeff (September 20, 2010)
"The Roots and John Legend: Wake Up! :: Music :: Reviews"
'' Paste''. Retrieved 2010-09-20. 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" ''Waiting for "Superman"'' is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott. The film criticizes the American public education system by following several students as they strive to be ...

''.Columnist (January 26, 2010)
"'Superman', John Legend 'shine' Sundance light on schools"

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. Retrieved on 2010-09-26. In an interview for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 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 t all.Michaels, Sean (May 12, 2010)
"The Roots and John Legend to release covers album inspired by Arcade Fire"
''

''. Retrieved on 2010-09-19. Questlove has said that the band's instrumentation for the album is looser than on previous albums, with a jamming and "grass-roots feel". ''Wake Up!'' contains lyrical themes concerning social awareness, engagement, and consciousness. The Roots' lead MC

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded a ...

is featured on few tracks, as the band mostly accompanies Legend's singing with live instrumentation.Nero, Mark Edward (September 17, 2010)
"Album Review: John Legend and The Roots - 'Wake Up!'"

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

. Retrieved 2010-09-19. Other rappers featured on the album include Common,

, and

.Lewis, Pete (October 2010)
"John Legend: Back to My Roots"
''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as '' NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-11-02.

Singles

The album's lead single, " Wake Up Everybody", a cover of

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in ...

song of the same name, was released on April 29, 2010, and features rapper Common and Canadian R&B singer Melanie Fiona. It reached number 53 and spent 14 weeks on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.John Legend Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
'' Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-02-23. The second single, "Hard Times", was released on September 7, 2010, and has The Roots's lead MC Black Thought as a featured artist.

Reception

Critical response

''Wake Up!'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 77, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"."Critic Reviews for Wake Up!"

. Retrieved 2010-09-21. Sean Fennessey of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called it "a surprisingly rugged enterprise" and complimented The Roots' "brawny arrangements of a cleverly curated batch of songs".Fennessey, Sean (September 20, 2010)
"Review_of_'Wake_Up!'_by_John_Legend_an_[sic
/nowiki>_the_Roots".html" ;"title="ic">"Review of 'Wake Up!' by John Legend an [sic
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''. Retrieved 2010-09-21.

'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". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' writer

Jody Rosen Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''. Career Journalism Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...

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."Rosen, Jody (September 21, 2010)
"Wake Up"
''

''. Retrieved 2013-11-15. Jeff Vrabel of '' Paste'' called it "organic and opulent, with a heart of diamonds and a lush sound to match". ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''s Julian Benbow noted Legend's range and stated, "The Roots band practically makes sonic photocopies of the originals".Benbow, Julian (September 20, 2010)
"John Legend and the Roots, 'Wake Up!'"
''

''. Retrieved 2010-09-19. '' 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."Gamboa, Glenn (September 17, 2010)
"John Legend's thrilling 'Wake Up!' call"
'' Newsday''. Retrieved 2010-09-19. Steve Jones of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' stated, "The Roots contemporize them with just enough hip-hop flavor, while the soulful Legend injects them with renewed passion".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)"
''

''. Retrieved 2013-11-15. In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention; he picked out two of its songs ("

Compared to What "Compared to What" is a protest song written by Gene McDaniels. It was recorded by Roberta Flack in February 1969 for her debut album '' First Take'', but became better known following a performance by Les McCann (piano and vocals) and Eddie Harr ...

" 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". ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' 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".Kot, Greg (September 16, 2010)
"Turn It Up: Album review: John Legend and the Roots, 'Wake Up!'"
''

''. Retrieved 2010-09-19. Mikael Wood of '' Spin'' considered that "The results don't always play to egends melodic strengths; ?uestlove sounds a bit reined-in, too."Wood, Mikael (September 9, 2010)
"John Legend & the Roots, 'Wake Up!' (Columbia)"
'' Spin''. Retrieved 2010-09-19.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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."Kellman, Andy (September 22, 2010). "Wake Up! - John Legend and the Roots"

. Retrieved 2010-09-23. ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' 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."Conner, Thomas (September 23, 2010)
"Maroon 5, 'Hands All Over'; John Legend & the Roots, 'Wake Up!'"
''

''. Retrieved 2010-09-23. Zach Cole of '' URB''s criticized Legend's singing as overdone and wrote that the album "run the risk of coming across as entirely cheesy and contrived".Cole, Zach (September 20, 2010)
"John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!"
'' URB''. Retrieved 2010-09-20. 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."Cataldo, Jesse (September 18, 2010)
"John Legend and the Roots: Wake Up!"
Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-15. Richard Trapunski of ''

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * 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." Despite finding its arrangements unadventurous, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' 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 omfort zone.. he packs far more spark here than he did on 2008’s ''Evolver''."Martens, Todd (September 22, 2010)
"Album Review: John Legend and the Roots' 'Wake Up!'"
''

''. Retrieved 2010-09-22. David Amidon of PopMatters viewed that Legend "not only delivers his most focused effort yet, but his most diverse".Amidon, David (September 29, 2010)
"John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!"
PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-11-15. Rupert Howe of '' Q'' cited ''Wake Up!'' as "one of the finest soul albums of recent times" and complimented Legend's vocal "versatility".Howe, Rupert (November 2010).
John Legend & the Roots: Wake Up!
. '' Q'': 107. Archived fro
the original
on 2010-09-30. Dave Simpson of ''

'' noted Legend's "emotional rawness" and wrote that "many of the tracks have a raw, driving feel along the lines of

arvin Arvin is a city in Kern County, California. Arvin is located southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of . As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census. In 2007, the United States Environmental Protec ...

Gaye's

Inner City Blues "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single, and the climactic song from his 1971 landmark album, '' What's Going On''. Written by Gaye and Ja ...

".Simpson, Dave (October 14, 2010)
"John Legend & the Roots: Wake Up! - review"
''

''. Retrieved 2010-10-14. '' 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."Rabin, Nathan (September 28, 2010)
"John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!"
'' The A.V. Club''. Retrieved 2010-09-30. Brad Wheeler of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' 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".Wheeler, Brad (September 20, 2010)
"Disk of the week: John Legend"
''

''. Retrieved 2013-11-15.

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.Caulfield, Keith (September 29, 2010)
Zac Brown Band Bows At No. 1 on Billboard 200
'' Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-09-30. It also entered at number three on '' Billboard''s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and

Digital Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

charts.R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Week of October 9, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-10-01. In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold 31,000 copies.Jacobs, Allen (October 10, 2010)
Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 10/3/2010
. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-10-09. ''Wake Up!'' achieved some international charting.Album Performance: ''Wake Up!''
acharts. Retrieved on 2010-09-30. In the Netherlands, it entered at number six on the Dutch Album Top 100, and in Switzerland, the album debuted at number 15 on the Swiss Album Top 100. As of August 2013, the album has sold 273,000 copies in U.S.

Track listing

* All tracks were produced by John Legend and The Roots.

Personnel

Credits for ''Wake Up!'' adapted from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Credits: ''Wake Up!'' Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-19.

Musicians

* Davis Barnett – viola * Owen Biddle – bass, group member * Michelle Bishop – violin *

– 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 *

– piano, vocals, background vocals, producer, liner notes * Jennie Lorenzo – cello * Charles Parker – violin * Denise Powell – background vocals *

– 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 * Mike Makowski:– 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 * Salamishah Tillet – liner notes * Alex Venguer – engineer, vocal recording * Ghian Wright – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official website - John Legend

Official website - The Roots
*
Wake Up!
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

*
Wake Up!
' at

{{Authority control 2010 albums Albums produced by James Poyser Albums produced by John Legend Albums produced by Questlove Collaborative albums GOOD Music albums John Legend albums The Roots albums Columbia Records albums Grammy Award for Best R&B Album