Wake Up

Recorded in the Bronx during the 1989 and 1990 sessions for Brand Nubian's debut album One for All. Grand Puba, Sadat X, and Lord Jamar formed the group lineup, with Stimulated Dummies producing the single mix and Brand Nubian producing the Reprise in the Sunshine version. Released by Elektra in November 1990 as a single from One for All, it reached number 5 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart. The record helped establish Brand Nubian's politically charged voice within early-1990s New York rap. It remains one of the group's defining early singles and a key Grand Puba-led statement from One for All. Its two widely circulated versions, built from different sample sources, keep it prominent in discussions of Brand Nubian's debut era.