John Legend recently weighed in on the controversies and "descent" of his former friend Kanye West.
The two music icons used to be close friends and professional partners during the 2000s, when they made their breakthrough in the business. However, they went on separate ways and their friendship ended.
John Legend Opens Up About the 'Descent' of Kanye West
In a recent interview with The Times, Legend got candid about the recent public image of his former friend West and how "it does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now."
"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. He had so much optimism, so much creativity...," he recalled.
"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 noted that he noticed starting West becoming different after the death of his mother in 2007. "His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently," he said.
Despite not being friends anymore, Legend still credits West as his main influence on the trajectory of his career.
"Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint in 2001. 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," he said.
"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."
Legend continued, "All those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round."
Kanye West's Recent Controversies
West has become one of the controversial figures recently due to his pro-Nazi political views, social media posts, and the speculations on his relationship with Bianca Censori.
Recently, the Grammy winner was in hot water after walking out of an interview with Piers Morgan after two minutes.
The two disagreed over Morgan's description of West's public reputation at the beginning.
"I already disagree. It’s not in contrast. There’s so many people and artists that are championing the idea of someone being able to just express who they really are, and have been able to go through the war of being attacked by the banks, being attacked, you know, by the banks. That’s the best way to put it," West said.
"Being attacked by the banks, and to still be here with this view is, you know, that’s the win. So I think that’s... I’m in contrast to your contrast."
So far, Morgan has not revealed whether he has rescheduled an interview with West after the walkout.
What do you think of Legend's remarks? Let us know in the comments!
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