Paste Magazine: The idea was born in the summer of 2008 when the nation's election-year politics had plunged into polemic discourse, but was then left to marinate so it would still resonate after the Obama honeymoon wore off. But Wake Up! is mostly apolitical: Legend and the Roots have stuck with more broad-appeal tracks here, like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody," Marvin Gaye's "Wholy Holy," Donny Hathaway's "Little Ghetto Boy."
Turn It Up: This well-intentioned collection never surpasses the strong originals from which it draws. But in pointing young listeners back to the work of fine if mostly forgotten artists such as Baby Huey and Prince Lincoln, "Wake Up!" serves a worthy purpose.