John Legend is sharing his thoughts about his former friend and business partner, Kanye West.
In a recent sitdown with The Times of London, Legend said it’s “shocking” to see what has become of the once prolific artist and mourned the days of friendship and shared passion he had with West back in the mid-2000s.
“Back then Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him,” Legend recalled. “He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
West saved Legend’s fizzling music career back in 2004 when he signed the Grammy-winng pianist to his label, GOOD Music. As one of the brand’s first artists, Legend got to see the rise and fall of West first hand.
“Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album ‘The Blueprint’ in 2001,” Legend explained. “Then he experienced a buzz as a solo artist and the whole time I was travelling with him, doing shows with him, getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself. I had been turned down by labels everywhere. Then ‘The College Dropout’ sold 400,000 copies in its first week, everyone wanted to know what was happening in our camp, and all those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round.”
Despite their falling out in 2022 after West went public with his support of Donald Trump, Legend still did not expect things with West to escalate as far as they have.
“I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now, his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-blackness, and it is sad to see his devolution.” Legend said. “I don’t think we’re qualified to psychoanalyse him, but after his mother passed in 2007 there was definitely a difference. His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.”
West was once one of the most celebrated artists in hip-hop, but has lost that status after exhibiting aggressive antisemitic behavior. Back in February, West took out a bizarre advertisement in the Super Bowl for Yeezy.com. After the ad aired, he overhauled the site and replaced his previous wares with a swastika t-shirt. In the same month, the rapper’s X account was suspended after going on an antisemtic tirade, writing things like, “I’m a Nazi,” and claiming that Hitler was “so fresh.”
Most recently, the artist released a new single called “Heil Hitler,” with art that resembles a swastika.
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