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John Legend says it was “shocking” to see the public “descent” of his ex-friend and former business associate Kanye West after he went from musical genius to a controversial figure.
“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,” the EGOT winner recalled of working with West in a new interview with The Times.
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The pair began teaming up together for numerous projects in the early 2000s after West, who now goes by Ye, signed Legend to his label G.O.O.D. Music. Their bond started to turn sour after the “Stronger” artist expressed support for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Noting that Ye “had so much optimism” and “creativity,” Legend continued, “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.”
The “Ordinary People” singer told the outlet it’s “sometimes shocking to see where he is now.”
In recent years, the embattled rapper has caused a stir with numerous bizarre stunts from making repeated antisemitic remarks to praising Hitler to selling swastika T-shirts on his website. He apologized to the Jewish community in an Instagram post in December 2023.
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Legend went on to say that he doesn’t “think we’re qualified to psychoanalyze [Ye],” but admitted that he started noticing a “difference” in him after his mom died in 2007 from coronary artery disease.
“His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently,” he added.
Elsewhere in his interview, Legend recalled what it was like being connected to Ye during the height of his career.
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“Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album ‘The Blueprint’ in 2001,” Legend recalled. “Then he experienced a buzz as a solo artist and the whole time I was traveling with him, doing shows with him, getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself.”
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Legend said he had initially “been turned down by labels everywhere” but after Ye’s 2004 album “The College Dropout” sold record copies in its first week, “Those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round.”
Read Legend’s full interview with The Times here.
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