(If you missed part 1, please click here . Part 2 begins now.)
The title song, which is third on the playlist for Wake Up! was of course a major 1975 hit for Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead. This time around it gets a 2010 makeover complete with a duet featuring singer Melanie Fiona and an energizing rap from actor and rapper Common, both of whom fit The Roots’ and John Legend musical template just right. The track emphasizes awareness, without doubt, but it is also the kind of feel-good tune that people automatically begin to hum or sing along to when it pops up on the radio.
One of the most powerful qualities of this CD is the fact that the artists not only put their unique spin on such well-known gems as the title cut, but also on lesser known works like “Our Generation,” first recorded in 1970 by soul and inspiration singer Ernie Hines . Confronting challenging issues as opposed to just moaning about them is the driving energy behind the jubilant dance rhythms that animate “Our Generation”. Legend’s vocals and The Roots’ instrumentation blend so seamlessly on the track that you would think they’ve been performing together throughout their entire careers.
Quintessential Soul
Donny Hathaway’s quintessentially soulful “Little Ghetto Boy,” with a prelude rap by Malik Yusef,make up the fifth and sixth tracks on Wake Up! The vintage spin plays as fresh today as it did 38years ago, and but with a strong dose of edginess compliments of the prelude and additional spoken word by Black Thought. It’s all about the beat as the rap unfolds with a spoken portrait of just what it means to be an at-risk troubled ghetto youth: “You know you ghetto boy/ when you got a face with a scar/ and your highest aspirations/ is a place and a car.” By the song’s end, however, the grief of never-ending struggle is met head-on with the fading refrain, “Everything’s got to get better.”
Like the six tracks before it, “Hang on in There” reflects the social angst of our times but resolves to deal with it as opposed to allowing oneself to be destroyed by it. The song is a rediscovered jewel, written and first recorded by Mike James Kirkland in1972. Soul music icons Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and other activist-minded musical artists of the period clearly had a major influence upon Kirkland.
The Roots and Legend breathe new life into his composition with a cool (not smooth) inspirational jazz vibe while duplicating Kirkland’s original monologue based on a sign that read: “America, love it or leave it.” In this day and age when so many political factions are attempting to impose their singular interpretations of the American experience upon the rest of the nation, “Hang on in There” provides considerable food and groove for thought.
Such heavy unrelenting doses of social and political reality on Wake Up! could lead some to question why these specific songs and this specific type of music was chosen by the artists in the first place. In an interview by Tracey Ford for AOL Sessions, Questlove noted, “The type of entertainment that’s out, a lot of it is a means for escape…[from] a harsh reality. So, this is a very risky record to make, because we’re addressing a lot of the issues. A lot of the issues that, thus far, this generation has really, really turned a blind eye to.”
Reggae Sweetness
Just before listeners might reach the conclusion that Wake Up! is all pissed off rants and somber tantrums set to music, Legend and The Roots showcase their creative versatility with the Reggae sweetness of track number eight: “Humanity, Love the Way it Should Be.”
The musicians could easily have turned to the Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Third World, or Black Uhuru songbooks for a tasty serving of Reggae for this collection but instead selected the title tune from Prince Lincoln Thompson’s 1979 album. Prince Thompson died in 1999 at the age of 49 and never attained the kind of iconic cross-over appeal as some of his peers. But his music was and is celebrated for its uncompromising roots style and adherence to Rastafarian spirituality. To their credit, The Roots retain all the island flavor of the original and even “lively it up” a notch or two.
NEXT: John Legend and The Roots Issue Wake Up Call (special series part 3)
by Aberjhani, National African American Art Examiner
Founder ofCreative Thinkers International
and co-author ofEncyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
More on The Roots, Legend, and Music
John Legend and The Roots Issue Wake Up Call Series Part 1
Listen to Tracks from Wake Up
The Roots Story on Soundunwound
John Legend Bio and Music on Soundunwound
John Legend’s Show Me Campaign for Children
John Legend Tour Dates
Mike James Kirkland on YouTube
Nujazz New Millennium Soul of Maxwell
Nina Simone
The Life Times and Legacies of Lena Horne
Remembering Abbey Lincoln
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