Last week John Legend and The Roots dropped their much anticipated, much hyped collaboration album Wake Up!, a collection of covers that takes its name from the well-known Arcade Fire song. Oddly, their cover of "Wake Up" didn't make the final cut of the album and what was left fell short of spectacular. Where the idea of hearing hip-hop/soul renditions of songs from different genres sounds exciting, what we actually got were hip-hop/soul renditions of older soul songs. And that is not so exciting. I hate to say it, but this is the first time that I've been let down by a Roots' project. Seeing this live video of Legend and Philadelphia's finest doing a monstrous version of "Wake Up" makes me dream of what could have of been.
?uestlove, if you can hear me, get Legend back in the studio and give us a proper album that demonstrates how you're both powerhouses in the game. Maybe I'm a little let down because The Roots are coming off of what could be their finest album to date, How I Got Over. Maybe I'm over reacting because, as a Philly native, being a Roots fan is in my DNA. Maybe I just want a proper studio version of this "Wake Up" cover.
No comments:
Post a Comment