Wake Up! (John Legend and The Roots album)
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| Studio album by John Legend and The Roots | |||||
| Released | September 21, 2010 | ||||
| Recorded | 2009–2010 | ||||
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| Length | 62:48 | ||||
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| The Roots chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Wake Up! | |||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The A.V. Club | B+ |
| The Guardian | |
| Los Angeles Times |  |
| Mojo | |
| PopMatters |   |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Spin | 6/10 |
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.
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 2008 United States presidential election. In an interview for Billboard, Legend explained the album's conception at the time, stating "I was in the middle of campaigning for Barack Obama 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". The album's title was inspired by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire's song of the same name.
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