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W A K E U P is a powerful collection of songs from dynamic artists who live their convictions in their music.

Review by Wildy Haskell Wildy's World

The Awaken Project was conceived by Sonya LaChelle as a way to take back Hip-Hop as an art form. Vulgarity, degradation and misogyny would not be allowed, but no subject was out of bounds. The project drew in a broad swath of talent, including artists such as Illgotti, Idiomz Da Prophesayer, ChesZarae and Wally B. Somebody. The result is an album entitled W A K E U P, due for release on August 21, 2009.

W A K E U P opens with Eternal E on "Waking", a spoken word piece over an ambient arrangement that challenges listeners to see the world for what it is, and not as the product of popular media constructs. E.Z is up next with "Street Knowledge", featuring some of the sharpest poetry on the disc: "Most of y'all are countin' sheep, watching MTV and BET when you should be watchin' the BBC / Hip-Hop is not your culture, cause it is dumbed down / Tell the homey pick up a book and put your gun down". The song stresses education as a cure for poverty and violence. Idiomz da Prophesayer lays it on with "Art Of Blame", a song that picks apart society for getting caught up in the blame game rather than trying to solve the social problems that effect real people.

ChesZarae touches on issues of abstinence with "Quick Love", while Idiomz da Prophesayer and (((Soundmind))) call out popular culture in a remix of "Hip-Hop Is Not A Culture". The mix here is a bit sonically disturbing, but the near freestyle rhyming is hot, intelligent and particularly meaningful in the present day. "Sleepwalking" keeps up the sonic dissonance with Illgotti calling out listeners to see the world for what it is and how they can change their circumstances (and the world around them). Nova Supreme outlines the decline of culture and humanity in "Lives Are Took" in very powerful and non-negotiable terms, speaking with the authority of a street professor. Sonya LaChelle chimes in with an acoustic R&B arrangement on "It's Gotta Be You", providing harmonies in particular that are absolutely divine! Wally B. Somebody provides my favorite moment on the disc with "Walk It Out". This half prayer and half monologue is something of a witness for living a good life and staying on the right path. Wally B Somebody has strong religious convictions, but this would be powerful and real with or without the references to God. Aireez Darychuss closes out the set with "Poetik Justiss", a catchy Reggae/Hip-Hop mix with real commercial 'pop'.

W A K E U P is a powerful collection of songs from dynamic artists who live their convictions in their music. This album may not have been possible just a few years ago, but now has real social standing (based on content) and just might have strong commercial viability. Here, you have a collection of artists standing up and saying what folks like Bill Cosby have been saying for a long time. Each of us is responsible for our own lives, and it doesn't matter what color your skin is, what your creed or nationality are; we all contribute to the world, and what we put into is what we get out of it. The time has come for the Awaken Project.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

An artful and insightful package of great hip hop poetry and raps.

Review by Michael Morgan IndieSoupRunner

Review Summary: "W A K E U P enumerates in rap and rhyme the harsh realities of the world but not for the sake of pathos; it still comes back to manifest destiny of the self but this time through the lens of the world around us, whether that world is one of love and harmony or that of hatred and destruction."

What is the difference between resonance and reverberation? Texture. They both remain but it's their imprint that differs. Resonance leaves some evidence while reverberation leaves the things shaken. On Ausuree Entertainment's Awaken Project, the collective of artists, poets and emcees create a contemporary mix of hip-hop, poetry and rap. The songs may resonate, but it's the poems that reverberate.

The key message on W A K E U P is self-reliance: only you can control your destiny; it is up to YOU and no one else. The powerful and ethereal poem "Waking" by Eternal E sets the tone for the rest of the album: "Give to live and learn to be better. Mothers Fathers sisters brothers teachers helpers unite and arise. Instead of drowning one another we should be uplifting each other as individuals." The poet is saying take responsibility for your own actions; pick yourself up when you fall. But don't just rely on the community and charity of others, but rely on yourself most of all. This poem really resonated with me and was one of the strongest tracks on the album in terms of its straight-up and in-your-face delivery.

W A K E U P also enumerates in rap and rhyme the harsh realities of the world but not for the sake of pathos; it still comes back to manifest destiny of the self but this time through the lens of the world around us, whether that world is one of love and harmony or that of hatred and destruction. "Street Knowledge" is a sharp contrast to the hope and self reliance of "Waking". It's like the song sequence itself is saying on one hand "this is how it should be" (Waking), but "this is where we're at..." (Street Knowledge); Street Knowledge’s hard-knocks grit has got some interesting 70's sounding fuzz guitars. This Starsky and Hutch-esque slow burning soundscape has got gunshots and a quick trigger in-your-face chorus: "We wasting money on the war on drugs. We wasting money on the war on guns. But all we really need is education. All the dollars we wasting got us cooking base in the basement."

W A K E U P also talks of love gone wrong with hip-hop singer ChesZarae's "Quick Love". "Love is not an express bus skipping local stops. Take your time don't rush." Less preachy and more personal than some of the other tracks, "Quick Love" is a song of advice; love takes time and that quick love is not REAL love. "It's Got To Be You", another love song on the compilation, has a smooth and refreshing, contemporary sound. Sonya Lachelle's tender vocals remind me of Toni Braxton's. The vocal fills and backing vocals make it work along with the smooth acoustic-driven rhythms. However, just when I felt like it was going to swoop me into an uplifting chorus it never did, so I was slightly let down.

The acerbic and terse poem "Walk It Out" was a highlight for me on this compilation, rounding out the lessons of struggle and strife, complementing "Waking", the first track. The riveting poem talks about the struggles and obligations we have to ourselves and to society and how oftentimes they conflict with one another. "Walking It Out" is the coined phrase in this hip-hop poem for dealing with this natural contention; coping and biting your tongue when you might disagree. Keeping your cool. "Walk it out" in its soul-bearing sincerity, is what we try to say ourselves but is eloquently said by poet Wally B. Somebody. I can imagine that the effective delivery of this poem to a live audience would generate a standing ovation given the universal and personal nature of "Walk It Out".

One particular track that threw me off-kilter was "Hip Hop Is Not a Culture (remix)". The slow, syncopatic and off-tune guitar strums were a bit strange and arrhythmic. (Perhaps that was the intended effect?). It is a remix after all, so remixes try to be something a little different than the original work, but generally maintain the spirit of it. Since I have not heard the original there is no benchmark for me from which to gauge.

The span of artful and insightful poetry and raps on The Awaken Project makes this compilation one to buy. I’d recommend this album for any fans of The Fugees, Wyclef Jean or Toni Braxton.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Wise Advice.

Review by Michael Ososki Garage Band

Bonafide authentic, this primarily hip-hop, rap and spoken word compilation gathers together a representation of some of these genres 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. WAKING: 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.

2. STREET KNOWLEDGE: 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...

3. ART OF BLAME: More rap on soft tracks—(is that "art of blame" being repeated? Not sure.) Its insane flame non-game assertions have validity. The subtle LP static crackle is a nice touch.

4. QUICK LOVE: 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...

5. THE REALNESS: 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.

6. HIP-HOP IS NOT A CULTURE: Noodling guitar amid fog horns and manly hip-hop chant is the canvas on which distinctions are made defining hip-hop is not a culture, but a culture's trend; not a religion but an idol of men. Resolved: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

7. SLEEPWALKING: '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!

8. LIVES ARE TOOK: 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...

9. IT'S GOTTA BE YOU: 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.

10. WALK IT OUT: 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.

11. POETIK JUSTISS: 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?

Rating: 7 of 10