John Legend has identified the moment that he believes his former mentor Kanye West’s “descent” began.
The two artists have a long history, with West having signed Legend to his label GOOD Music in 2004, before executive producing his debut album ‘Get Lifted’ later that year.
Their relationship turned sour after Ye’s numerous public controversies, with Legend writing in 2022 that “I honestly think because we publicly disagreed on his running for office, his supporting Trump, I think it became too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly.”
Now, in a new interview with The Times, Legend has reflected on Ye’s antics in recent years. “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,” he said.
When asked when he believes the change in character happened, he added: “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.”
Legend went on to discuss his original collaborations with West in the 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. He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
This year alone, Ye has written a string of highly controversial posts on X, which saw him take back his apology to the Jewish community for his past anti-Semitic remarks and go on to declare himself “a Nazi”. He also wrote: “I love Hitler”, and praised Elon Musk as “the most lit person that [has] ever been on Twitter”, following the latter being accused of making a Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
In February, he came under fire for selling a white T-shirt with a large swastika emblem on the chest, listed as “HH-01” on his website – possibly a reference to the “Heil Hitler” chant.
The site was later taken down by Shopify, though the online retailer later stated that it was taken down due to the potential for fraud – not because it was selling a swastika t-shirt. Shopify did condemn the item, calling it “vile, disgusting and inexcusable”.
Then, the rapper seemed to backtrack on his earlier comments, taking to X to share that “after further reflection”, he’s “come to the realisation that I’m not a Nazi”. However, it was followed only a few days later by yet more swastika apparel appearing on his X page.
His album ‘Donda 2’ was released onto all streaming platforms in April, only for it to be taken down just hours later. That came shortly after he recently joined Twitch, only to be banned after seven minutes after he allegedly threw a Nazi salute while proclaiming: “Heil Hitler.”
As for Legend, his world tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of ‘Get Lifted’ starts later this month at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on May 27. See the full list of dates here, find UK tickets here and North American tickets here.
English (US) · 