Words by J-Rockaz
John Legend and The Legendary Roots Crew have teamed up on a new project and with a meeting of the musical minds like that, you know the collaboration is sincere. Wake Up! is the name of their new album and it definitely speaks to you. It’s a soulful body of work, of course, but a nice surprise is the little splash of reggae that dropped in on the project. Don’t miss track number 8, “Humanity (Love The Way It Should Be).” You’ll have to cop the LP to hear it in all it’s glory but you can get catch the vibe and some insight into the tune’s significance from John and ?uestlove on this track by track breakdown:
Even in that teaser you can clearly hear that once again Johnny-bwoy has done an admirable job of crossing the Caribbean sea, musically speaking, delivering a fitting follow-up to “No Other Love” and “Can’t Be My Lover,” his collabo with Buju on the Evolver album:
[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/14-Cant-Be-My-Lover1.mp3|titles=14 Can’t Be My Lover]In keeping with the themes of the title, Mr. Legend has recently been talking about education reform on Larry King Live and maybe you caught the live internet concert presented by American Express and directed by Spike Lee. Either way, John has been busy mentioning and performing his latest album project. (It’s also worth mentioning that it caught the attention of Billboard and the insiders at Ad Week 2010). And if that’s no enough to sway you, check out the video for the title (a cover of the 1976 hit record performed by Mr. Teddy Pendergrass and Harold Melvin and, the Blue Notes) featuring Common and the lovely Melanie Fiona on vocals (a Guyanese damsel reppin’ Toronto):