While Philadelphian-based group The Roots just recently put out their ninth studio albumHow I Got Over, the late-night house band for Jimmy Fallon plan to continue their musical exploration in 2010 through a collaborative album with R&B artist John Legend.
Entitled Wake Up!, the project will include 11 tracks, ten of which will be covers of 60’s and 70’s soul records. Inspired by the 2008 Presidential elections, Legend stated, “These songs sound so relevant now…On most of them, you wouldn’t change a lyric.”
Looking to bring back a newfound sense of change and action, The Roots drummer/musical director ?uestlove added, “When these songs were written, people were more spiritually in tune. It was fresh from the civil rights era and there was a feeling of hope that maybe, yes, someday we will all be free. In 2010, not so much.”
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Records such as Marvin Gaye’s “Wholly Holy” and Donny Hathaway’s “Little Ghetto Boy” will make up the track listing of Wake Up! as well as the lone original single “Shine,” which will also be featured in the documentary Waiting For Superman. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, Waiting For Superman deals with the inept public school systems within America.
Wake Up! is expected to hit record store shelves September 21 through Sony Music.
