Bonafide authentic, this primarily hip-hop, rap and spoken word compilation gathers together a representation of some of these genre specialists, with a few melodically sung, lightly dark pop tunes. Male and female, personal story tellers and hard luck learners laid atop sampled, beat-laden music beds, they may well represent one subculture’s restrictive semi-musical variety of today.

I’ve always thought of rap as stream-of-consciousness street poetry sonically married into a stylized rhythm. Technology provides easy-to-assemble MIDI sounds, beats and loops, making this type of largely sampled music production relatively fast and painless to put together. Spoken word is certainly poetry first. Perhaps hip-hop includes both of these plus a whole lot more, I’m not sure. (Refer to track #7 for one man’s further definition).

In any case, the focus of all of these styles must be the words. With that obvious emphasis in this collection, it would seem appropriate to have included printed lyrics, though the additional panels on the insert do add cost to a project. And if one pays reasonably close attention, most of the lyrics are mostly intelligible. The inserts lettering is somewhat difficult to read, hopefully unintentional. I know mass printing can be a risky process when going for ghostly or doing dark on darker.

As the one-sheet describes, this collection aspires “to inspire others to no longer make excuses for the condition of their lives.” Now this is a most noble undertaking. My personal belief is that we are each 100% responsible for everything in our experience, which fits hand in glove with the theme of this project. And then there’s the music…

Let’s take a brief word ride through each track:

1. After a Moody Blues / Wizard of Oz intro, an intriguing, ethereal music bed softly supports this thoughtful, intelligent spoken word sermon. A most worthwhile message delivered with solid conviction.

1. A thick fuzz guitar drone lays the groove down for this rap number. Complementary machine gun explosion effects fit well. Claiming we wasted money on the war on drugs and guns, it proclaims education as a better investment. Good advice, depending on what’s being taught…

1. More rap on soft tracks—(is that “auto-blame” being repeated? Not sure.) Its insane flame non-game assertions have validity. The subtle LP static crackle is a nice touch.

1. The first sung song of the collection. Quality vocals all around. Melancholic minor-based pop vibe advises not to jump in love too quickly; gotta get to know someone better first. Right on. Song ending could be a little more…

1. So many words packed in (Detroit style?). Hard to keep up. Good case for a lyric sheet. Lots of meaningful, clever content to be sure. Maybe could use a bit more of a clear standout hook.

1. Noodling guitar amid fog horns and manly hip-hop chant is the canvas on which distinctions are made defining hip-hop—not a culture, but a culture’s trend; not a religion but an idol of men. Resolved: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. ‘Tubular Bells’ piano intro / song bed leads into a bigger sound background. Lots of free form rap questioning ends into the warning hook not to sleepwalk with eyes wide shut. Wake up!

1. Intelligent string of rap words tell the dark story of too much too soon, innocents being played, and all of it leading maybe unto early death. Not a pretty picture, slowly plodding on, then off, admonishing ‘time to wake up, y’all…

1. Sung song #2 (female again, like sung song #1), with a Spanish flair. Heartfelt, plaintive pleading to you, you, you—who it’s all up to. Fancy double bass pedal work could be mixed down a touch. Light dawns redemption in the spoken word break.

1. Definitely the most mature selection in this collection. The classical music bed underscores this impression, as well as the lyrical topics and treatment. Skillful build throughout the piece. Like all others here, this man tells his truth believably.

1. Strongest dance number, with the guys singing out for once! Liberal use of vocal auto-tune for its exaggerated robotic effect. Tribal, trance-dance-inducing bounce with mostly one-note melody alongside one-note synth drone. Same universal theme for all of us: trust.

In summary, this group of recordings mostly achieves their stated purpose: preaching, teaching and beseeching us to take responsibility for our precious individual and collective being, regardless of where we think or believe we find ourselves. This is a wonderful accomplishment, for in the ultimate reality, how much are we really here, and just where is this?

Reviewed By Mike Ososki

admin Mike Ososki, Reviews Damon Curtis, The Awaken Project, Wakeup