“On Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s anti-materialist anthem “Wake Up”, a preacher or politician is heard angrily shouting “Wake up! Wake up!” Then an ultraminimal three-note melody is extracted from the pitch content of the voice. This is much like [Steve] Reich’s Different Trains. Not since Wagner has a classical composer put so much of the outer world under his spell, whether or not the outer world knows it.
— Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise
Not sure if this entirely as Reichian as Ross argues — the sample is much less prominently featured than his description implies — but this is an incredible track, up there with “Grindin’” in the early 2000s minimalist pantheon. Missy kills it.
