John Legend Looks Back on Friendship with Kanye West: ‘It is Sad to See His Devolution’

Their friendship might be unlikely, but once upon a time, John Legend and Kanye West were friends. Not only did they collaborate in the past, but Legend was the first artist to sign with West’s GOOD Music label. But as years passed, fame soared, and controversies exploded, their friendship and professional relationship were affected. 

In a recent interview, the “All of Me” singer opened up about where things stand between him and the rapper today. 

Legend recounted to London Times (via Page Six) how the “Gold Digger” rapper was when he first met him: “Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him.” He added that West was full of “so much optimism, so much creativity.” He can’t help but “feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.” 

The EGOT winner also spoke about how West played a role in launching his career: “Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album 'The Blueprint' in 2001.” He added that he was traveling and doing shows with him. And he's “getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself.” He had been turned down by different labels before. But after The College Dropout sold 400,000 copies in its first week, everyone suddenly became interested in him: “All those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round.” 

The two had a falling out in recent years because of differences in political views. But Legend admitted that he didn’t see any indications in the past of what West’s behavior would be now: “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.” 

Despite it all, Legend said, “I don’t think we’re qualified to psychoanalyze him.” He believes that the death of his mother greatly affected the “Carnival” rapper and noted, “After his mother passed in 2007, there was definitely a difference. His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.” 

Over the past months, West continued to exhibit questionable behavior. This included posting offensive tirades about several issues including the mental capacity of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s twins using offensive language, which led to a public rebuke from Beyoncé’s parents, and antisemitic rants that made David Schwimmer appeal to Elon Musk to have the rapper removed off of X. He also released his song “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine” on X featuring his daughter North and Sean “Diddy” Combs. This prompted Kim Kardashian to stop the release of the song through legal channels.