Hydrophilic Soul

Hydrophilic Soul

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Wake Up! Radio

J.Period + John Legend + The Roots
Featuring Rakim, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Common, 
K'NAAN, Blu, Nneka, Mayda Del Valle


“When this project began, I was excited to explore the legacy of soul music behind the WAKE UP! album,” explains J.Period, “but I had no idea of the level of access and creative freedom I would be granted by John Legend & The Roots to tell that story. The result is not only something that traces musical history lines from artists like Marvin Gaye to contemporaries like John Legend—but something that adds to that history: brand new collaborative tracks as if Marvin & John recorded together. It’s simply unprecedented on a mixtape. And I am particularly proud of the fact that all of it speaks to the true power of music to carry a message, and have a positive impact on society, and on people’s lives.”

“These songs [are] so relevant now,” says John Legend. “On most of them, you wouldn’t change a lyric [from the original version.] The passionate election [in 2008] represented change and hope, and awakened a new generation of activists who had never been inspired before. [Fast forward to today:] the intense brew of possibility [and] poverty, optimism and despair, activism and unrest, global connectedness and intractable global conflicts is the reason WAKE UP! exists."

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