Noise

  • Print
  • Small FontsDefault FontsLarge Fonts

[Sleepy]

Adult-contemporary hip-hop? It exists on the new John Legend & The Roots CD

John Legend & The Roots

Wake Up!
Two stars

You knew adult contemporary hip-hop was coming, you just didn’t know when. Well, it’s arrived, in the form of John Legend & The Roots’ album, Wake Up!, ready for airtime on a soft-rock station near you. There’s nothing at all offensive about the work, which mostly features Legend and various rappers performing over The Roots’ versions of hippie-era soul songs, and that’s what’s so offensive about it. After kicking off with a rousing take on Baby Huey’s “Hard Times,” the work promptly flatlines, cruising forward with vaguely political, pseudo-inspirational covers, most of which feel perfectly suited for naps. Wake Up! plays like an excuse for friends to get together. Too bad they didn’t limit themselves to jam sessions in Legend’s basement.

Print This

Discussion:

In an effort to increase the dialogue on our stories, we will be requiring Facebook accounts to leave comments on lasvegasweekly.com stories. We believe that Weekly readers are likely to have Facebook accounts already and more apt to comment on this site with that account rather than have to create an account with us. If, however, you do not have a Facebook account, click here to sign up for one. If you have questions, comments or concerns about this new commenting policy, please let us know.

For any other questions related to commenting on Weekly stories, please read our full policy.

Facebook Activity