Awaken (Keke Palmer album)

Awaken
Mixtape by Keke Palmer
Released	March 18, 2011 (2011-03-18)
Recorded	2006–2010
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	40:01
Label	Independent
Keke Palmer chronology
So Uncool (2007) Awaken (2011) Awaken Reloaded (2011)
Singles from Awaken
"The One You Call" Released: January 8, 2011

Awaken is a fanmade mixtape by American singer-songwriter Keke Palmer. It was officially released on March 18, 2011 for downloads on mixtape-downloading websites.It has not been released as a digital download or as an album. Three of the songs appear on Palmer's debut album, So Uncool.^[1] The only single "The One You Call" was released on iTunes on January 8, 2011, and was sent to Urban radio the same day.^[2] A music video was also released for the song. It premiered on Palmer's official YouTube channel and iTunes.

Background

Palmer released Awaken as a teaser of her upcoming new music, expected to be released in 2012. Palmer hoped that the mixtape would boost interest in her upcoming music.^[3] Three tracks from the mixtape appeared on her debut album, So Uncool: "The Game Song", "Bottoms Up" and "Keep it Movin'", each was released in 2007.

Lyrics and composition

Many of the songs on Awaken are about love and relationships including "Edit", "New Boyfriend", "Keke's Love", "Hard To Breathe" (just a cover, originally sung and composed by Nikki Floresm), "Get Out of My Head", "The Game Song", and "The One You Call". "Top of The World" describes Keke being with her friends and feeling on top of the world. "Keep It Movin'", "Bottoms Up", and "Superjerkin'", are about dancing and have a synth pattern. Each song was written by Palmer, with the help of many professional songwriters. She showed her range spanning from D3 to G5.

Promotion

Palmer sang her song "Top of the World" at the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the Build-a-Bear Workshop float.^[4][5] Many of the songs were also leaked by Palmer on her official YouTube channel before the release of the mixtape.

Critical reception

The reviews for Awaken are mostly positive, many complimenting Palmer's vocals, but questioning its ability to chart.

Peggy Oliver from The Urban Music Scene said "Palmer’s crystal voice is pleasing and soulful. As for the music on the Awaken Mixtape, the production is clean yet there are several auto tune spots and just so-so background vocals in certain places, which seem par for the course in today’s urban market. Thus, the question is not whether Palmer has very good vocal capabilities. It is a matter of whether her music at this point can stand toe to toe with the more prolific urban vocal talent hitting the charts today." ^[8]

TerrellVanity.com also gave it a positive review saying that the tracks "SuperJerkin", "Keke’s Love", "Hard To Breathe", and "The One you Call" were their favorite tracks. They also said that they could see "Get Out My Head" being played on the radio.^[1]

TheJadonFiles.com gave the mixtape an extremely positive review calling Palmer "one of the best young female talents we've out there." They also said "The girl can definitely carry a note and quite frankly puts those other young pop queens to shame. Unfortunately she has yet to reach that success as a recording artist. Hopefully her time is now."

Track listing

The One You Call

"The One You Call"
Single by Keke Palmer
from the album Awaken
Released	January 27, 2011 (2011-01-27)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2010
Genre	R&B, hip hop, pop
Length	3:15
Label	Interscope Records
Writer(s)	Theron Feemster, Ericka J. Coulter, Keke Palmer
Producer(s)	Darkchild
Keke Palmer chronology "Keep It Movin'" (2007) "The One You Call" (2010) "The Greatest" (2011)

"The One You Call" is the only single released from Keke Palmer's first mixtape Awaken. The song was released January 27, 2011 and was sent to urban radio on the same day. The official music video was released December 23, 2010 and all expenses for the video were paid by Palmer.^[9] Due to lack of promotion and radio airplay, the song failed to chart anywhere, unlike her previous single, which charted on the "Portugal Singles Top 50" chart at number 30.^[10] It was only played 272 times on the US radio, during 2010.^[11] Palmer confirmed that the song will be performed on her upcoming tour and that she will be releasing a video showing her rehearsal of the dance moves for the song.

Composition

The song describes a boy who broke up with his girlfriend going through his phone to see who will answer. Palmer will not pick up because she will not be "the one he calls." The song was produced by Darkchild, and shows off Palmer's strong vocal range.

Music video

The official music video was released December 23, 2010. It was directed by Gabe Evans and Ryan Parma.^[12] The video shows the singer hanging out with her friends while Palmer's love interest starts calling and texting her on her phone. However, she knows that he just broke up with his girlfriend and now he's going through his phone to see who will pick up.

Scratch That DJ Contest

On February 20, 2011 Palmer started a contest called the "Scratch That DJ Contest". Palmer started the contest to find a DJ that could travel with her for her upcoming tour.^[13] To enter the contest the DJ must create a new version of Palmer's single "The One You Call". On March 6, 2011 Palmer released an a cappella version of the song on her official YouTube channel.^[14] This must be used for the contest. The contestant also must be over 18 years of age and able to travel with her on her tour.

References