A match made in heaven, the old campaigners of hip- hop The Roots meet the incredible soul power house that is John Legend. These two forces have come to together to make a concept album of two purposes. Firstly to create a master piece of soulful, instrumental jazz blended with the John Legends' smoothest vocals to date. And secondly, to project the thoughts and fears of working class Americans, as the battle to reverse a failing economy spirals on, the light of Obama's shinning beacon of hope begins to dim and anger over the war in Iraq increases. But the overriding message of this twelve track offering is not to give up hope, but rather to literally "wake up" stay optimistic and "straighten it out".
Opening track 'Hard Times' is as boastful in hard hitting instrumental grandeur as it is in poetic mastery. John's voice never sounded so good and a guest vocal from Black Thought compliments the affair with his hard edged, straight talking rhymes. Meanwhile 'Compared To What' steadies the tempo back to classic rhythm and blues standards as John discusses the confusion and folly of the war in Iraq, while a bass line and saxophone set the mood on a much groovier plane.
Title track 'Wake Up Everybody' features a meeting of the voices of Melanie Fiona and John Legend so romantic it seems fathomable that Steve Wright could pick the tune for play selection on his Radio 2 Sunday morning love songs session. While being one of the most graceful tracks on the album, another guest vocal, this time from cult hip hop legend Common leads this song to its finish as the listener is left with the voice of John's message wafting through the mind "the world wont get no better if we just let it be".
A third of the way in to the album now and once again the political preaching is turned in to high gear with an artfully selected sample from an old classic from the works of Pete Rock and CL. smooth: “straighten it out”. CL offers an enthusiastic take on the progress that society has made so far, his message back in the day was for African Americans to straighten things out in their culture, whereas today he takes his lyrics to a greater meaning, for us all to work together "no matter what the culture is".
Malik Yusuf offers a 2 minute long ballad poem about ghetto life for the prelude of half-way in track 'Little Ghetto Boy'. On this track, The Root's main men take a more centre stage roll as the song opens up with Black Thought's rapping while drummer ?uestlove keeps things together with a classic hip- hop beat . John Legend accompanies them on the grand piano and offers a melodic chorus with the main hook of the track.
A highlight for the album comes in the form of a cover song 'Humanity' which entails a reggae-ish beat with trumpets subtly creating the main swaying groove throughout. John legend shows of his vocal range as the lyrics "love the way it should be" are revisited time and time again. This song is so peaceful it's hard to imagine how it fits with the themes of political despair and search for hope. But this is possibly the most instantly loveable song on show and is by far the catchiest.
'Wholy Holy' is a track so easy on the ears it could send a screaming baby to sleep, one of the less catchy or jazzy tracks, with much more emphasis on soul. Delicate piano playing and a touch of atmospheric violin and saxophone make this the back drop to the most relaxing but least exciting track to be found. The next track 'I Cant Write Left Handed' follows in similar fashion but then tails off into an epic guitar solo that despite being intricate as necessary, does if anything sounds slightly out of place.
The album comes to a close with the final tracks 'I Knew I Wish How It Would Feel To Be Free' and 'Shine'. Both make use of backing vocalists to bring the album in to an epic farewell. A much classier, vintage atmosphere accompanies the closing tracks of this album that old timers will fall in love with, John's voice is sublime and his melodies continue to be spot on.
So there you have it, an album that encapsulates everything that is blissful in modern say soul, jazz and hip-hop. The first half of the album: a treat for the younger generation of hip hop fans, and political activists that sounds lean yet beautiful, while sticking up a middle finger to the Krunk scene that circulates chart music. The latter part, perhaps a bit less on the energetic side, is a tribute to the soul music of old, that lets face it, any one could find a reason to fall in love with.
Stereoboard Album Rating: 9/10
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Title track 'Wake Up Everybody' features a meeting of the voices of Melanie Fiona and John Legend so romantic it seems fathomable that Steve Wright could pick the tune for play selection on his Radio 2 Sunday morning love songs session. While being one of the most graceful tracks on the album, another guest vocal, this time from cult hip hop legend Common leads this song to its finish as the listener is left with the voice of John's message wafting through the mind "the world wont get no better if we just let it be".
