Episode 446 w/ John Legend

He is drinks chests, motherfucking podcast. He's a legendary queens rapper. He ain't agreed that your boy in O r E. He's a Miami hip hop pioneer. What ups d J e f N? Together they drink it up with some of the biggest players you me and the most.

Professional unprofessional podcast and your.

Number one source for drunk drinks.

D is New year c That's it's time for drink champs, drink up?

Mother would it could be hoping He's winter should be it's your boy in O R E? What up is d J e f N?

This is mina tepic crazy have you have gonna make something?

And when we started, when we started the show, we.

Said we wanted to interview legends. Yes, man here as a legend. This man is an icon. He's the only person I know what an e guy and even know what the fucking e goot was I dropped out a seventh grade.

God damn it, it's mo fucker E got is he?

NAACP Awards nominated at least thirty forty nine a thousand times, thirteen goddamn Grammys.

This motherfucker is a legend on a legend and his name is a legend. And in case you don't know who we talking about, we talked about the one, the only dampeccable. Yes, you can take a quack before me. You beat me to the blest of intro. I like to hear. Man, So what's going on which brings you to Miami?

Man?

I came to see y'all. Oh, I just fix the fucking up.

I was in New York doing press and they were like, do you want to come down to Miami and do drink champs?

And yes. I was like, it's about time. Yes, yeah. Yeah.

So recently you letting your skills and you sang for the fire department, but now it's not a normal fire department. This was a fire department that was sent prison.

Yeah. So I wasn't there to sing.

I was just there to highlight what they're doing, to thank them because these guys they're currently incarcerated and they volunteer for this program to fight fires in California, which California has a lot of fires, and so they're going they train, they go hike up the mountains, go back up and back and forth and up and back and forth, and it's a crazy training program. But they grow so much through it and they end up getting time taking off of their term in prison and it improves their

Some of the top of people in the world love R and B. That's a fact. Yes, thugs love R and B. That's so.

Let me ask you something to me. You are hamanitarian, you're a people person. How did you develop that like type of you know what I mean, like you put people before you, like from outside of looking at this inside.

Well, I always thought that I wanted to be an artist. I always thought I wanted to sing for a living, but also always thought that the greatest artists that I looked up to were the ones that gave back.

And if you look at Stevie.

Sidney Poitier, mam and Gay, Sidney Poitier, Paul Robson, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, all of these artists, they were successful as artists. They were huge artists, sold a lot of records, so a lot of concert tickets, and then they were also funneling money to doctor King to make sure that the movement was going forward.

They would fly and meet him.

At these at these marches and bail him out of jail. And so I always looked at being an artist as partly not just being an artist for myself, but using the platform to give back and to be humanitarian.

I mean, I'm gonna give straight to it. It was like Trump was your nemesis.

I feel like he's NICs nemesis.

They're not mine because.

He ran against Hillary Hillary side. Yeah, he ran against Kamala. Yeah, and he was on commona side against body. Now was on Biden's side. You know, if Trump is running, there's a good chance I'll be against him.

Do you I think he follows you on Twitter secretly? Well, I'm not on Twitter anymore? Okay, good? Yeah, all right, come on Twitter. It's not good. It's gone. It disappears.

Whenever I'm having too much of a good day, I just.

Go on black Twitter. I just have to broke. You got to get base, Yeah, base only Fans's son retired. He has a fan base. He started. It's a black owned. There's a couple other ones that are, but.

All of them are kind of smaller than Twitter used to be.

And then a lot of people left Twitter. I left Twitter, and I think a lot of people are gone from it, so there's not really one place where everybody is. I do most of my communicating on ig but even that, I don't really do as much of what I used to do on Twitter.

Right, Yeah, But you think you think Trump separly follows you on I G Well, I would.

Say he was.

He's like the only time he really acknowledged us when he was president.

The first time I.

Did this criminal justice reform event at.

Sing Sing in New York.

And yeah, so we went up there to the prison and we're meeting with the inmates and we're just having a conversation about reform and everything that we work on. And for some reason, on a Sunday night, the President of the United States was watching the show and he was mad that we didn't say enough about him, give him enough credit because he passed one criminal justice reform bill and he was upset and so he was like that boring singer John Legend and his filthy mouthed wife, Christy.

I'll be seeing him on ex a lot, well his boy on it now. So yeah, like like I'm.

Sorry to get political, because I'm gonna go. I'm gonna going We'll talk about everything. But but his it's crazy right years ago recipe of IRV Gotti years ago, IRV Gotti, J Prince Sug and I forget who's the other It was one of other Prince Sug Sugar Gotti was there somebody else.

I hold, don't think they're Dang Dang. I believe Dave.

Yeah, huh yeah, I believe Dame was down and these were these powerful black men that was getting together. People automatically said, this is a Illuminati right now, right now, in our face. They met in private just because they couldn't get get it together. And from what I heard, but you seeing Eli must with Dan a white uh huh woof Joe Rogan in your fucking face and a

Yeah, he went over to that other side. Well, I think they saw what Elon was able to do.

He was able to donate over two hundred million dollars to the campaign, and he basically bought a presidency. So he bought the right to ride shotgun with Trump and be his co president. And so now he's running through the government doing what he wants to do because he bought the right. You shouldn't be able to buy the right to do that, but he did it out and ope, and he bought it. And Trump is letting him be co president with him.

Because what's the thing you just said.

That's a different Twitter, Isaac Hayeson.

That one's called fan Base, But there's a Blue Sky, there's true Blue Sky is another new one.

Threads is part of Instagram. I know, I know.

You can invest in fan base too, like apen source where you can invest in it.

Absolutely, yeah, yeah, so what if we all got together. That's that's what Isaac's trying to do.

He's trying to do that's what But there's a couple others that are trying to do it as well, and it's just, uh, what was the other one? There was another black owned one. I can't think of the name now, but goddamn, everybody's trying. But it's hard because you got to get everybody in the same place for it to work, you know, because they don't have the same energy that Twitter had at the beginning. Because everybody's not in the same place.

I think the reason why I like Twitter to take the truth is because like when, like I said.

When I'm having a good day, they will humble me. That's the worst humanity, you know.

I could post the most positive things in the world and somebody black, somebody.

Yes.

And by the way, it works for me because I'm like, all right, cool, it keeps you humble.

I'm off my high horse. You want to be like, fuck you right, bular, that's what you want to The ig comments are the same, though, is kind of nice to me.

I heard you say something about that. I'm gonna get to that. But when you was fifteen, you wrote an essay of exactly who you was going to be you grew up.

So I wrote an essay.

This was like a Black History Month essay comp Titian McDonald's was the sponsor, and one of my teachers is like, John, you should enter this. You would be good. And so the question was just how you plan to make Black history? And so I said, I'm going to be a famous artist. I'm gonna be a famous singer, and then I'm gonna use my success as a platform to help my people to stand up for what's right, stand up for justice.

And that's what I've been doing. Wow, since I manifest and manifested. I know you did that.

I know you did that for school, But do you recommend that kids that age fourteen, fifteen sixty years years old write an essay not the cebrity in school. Sure, I write an essay of who they should be in that in the next fifteen years.

Absolutely, start setting intentions for yourself at that age, and you know, we as parents can start encouraging them to think about that.

You know, I don't ask my eight year old what.

She really wants to be when she grows up, Like we say it, but we don't really know that they know what they want to be yet. But I think once they getting those teen years like start, you have them set intentions for what they want to do in life. And when you set those intentions, you start to put yourself in that path.

To do it. And I think that's what I was thinking and that's what I started doing. Yeah. I did a vision board with my six year old this year. My wife. You know what a vision board? Ye, same thing.

It's like manifesting, but you know it's a kid level. But you start doing little things like that with them, they start to understand.

Yeah, and once you say it, it makes you want to work to it too, you know. And so I think it's a good thing.

And you would you were what they call a prodigy, Yeah, a child producty. Yeah, I skipped a couple of grades.

So I graduated high school when I was sixteen, graduated college from houses.

Yeah. Yeah. They literally called me Doogie high school.

So I get to high school, I'm twelve years old. Everybody else is fourteen. They start calling me Doogie. And but you know, I was a nerdy little kid. I wanted to read everything, do everything, sing everything, and went to Ivy League college afterwards.

And yeah, yeah, I watched you on OPRAH when you went to your your old block.

I was literally cold.

I was like, oh my god, you have so much snow there ray for Ohio. Man, do you still fun with the snow? I can't funk with the snow.

I'm good with it. You're good with it? Yeah, fun with this too, it's snow. I was just in New York. I love New York. You're from New York. Yes, I don't go there too? May I mean I heard it right not to go.

There, Like I earned the right not to be Like I literally kept rewinding your ship and I was like, oh my god, I'm so cold, like I can't see you fun with snow.

Miami right here. I grew up in Ohio. I live in l A now. But when I go to the snow like, I enjoy it. So you missed the snow.

Sometimes we intentionally will go somewhere cold for like Christmas, because I.

Want that Christmas snow feeling. You know, it makes me feel at home, not me now, he.

Said, I see you tracking through it, and ship did you? Did you you watch the Grammys recently? I was there.

Yeah, so I just played piano. So if you if you miss me, I don't blame you. I was just playing a piano. We were supporting the.

Band DAWs Dows.

Their lead singer and their drummer were with us on stage and they performed I Love La and it was a whole tribute to La to open the show. And they lost their homes literally, the lead singer and the drummer lost their home. Their family was from there too. They lost home, and they lost a lot of their

The keys, Cheryl Crowe played the bass, and then we.

Just supported this band that had lost so much in the fire.

They did a lot of fundraising during that whole Yeah, they raised like twenty five million dollars.

Money really gets oh yeah, well twenty five million dollars raised and it's going to go to help a lot of people. And you know, Music Cares is a part of the Recording Academy too, and Music Cares is basically the music community supporting each other because not all of us, you know, we're not all millionaires. A lot of our musicians, like they fall on hard times. They're dealing with addiction and dealing with loss, something's happening in their lives.

And they need help.

So Music Care supports them all throughout the year every year.

So let me ask you right in Miami, they got this scheme that they do right when it rains scheme.

Yeah, that's what I'll be doing out here. I'm watching y'all. But they're talking about like we all to deal with climate, like when it.

Rains, they'll let they'll let their car get flooded or whatever and then they'll claim it.

Oh you talk about it from yeah yeah yeah, So hey man, I know the'se gots.

I know people right, but but in their assurance, it's a difference between hurricane insurance and flood insurance.

So is that a difference? And there's fire insurances.

That's because because a friend of minee uh left his car out in a hurricane and he had he didn't have flood insurance. So they said that it wasn't calls from a hurricane, it was called from the hef his car.

Yeah, he tried to be slipped. He should have checked his policy before Miami schemers.

Insurance companies their job is to find a way to not pay like that's that's their job.

So you gotta check the fine print.

You got to check everything with insurance, health insurance, everything.

Their job is the final reason to not pay that. So what these California flyers. Do you think people were insured fire?

What did they have to Hell, I think a lot of them were.

But even if you are, they only ensure the actual home, so it's a land. So see, it's always the loophole, So definitely so, But theoretically it makes sense because if you lose your home, you still own the property and you can build it back, so they'll reimburse you for building it back, but they won't buy the land from you, So it basically requires you to stay there or sell the land to somebody else to really make your money back.

And I heard a lot of people lost their policies. They were canceled before.

Yes, so some of them got canceled before, and maybe they didn't check their mail, they didn't notice that they got canceled, and so they find out after the fire they.

Don't have a policy, which is crazy, and then all the conspiracy.

Yeah, and the thing is what's going to happen more and more in Florida, in California and all these places. It's going to be hard to ensure a house and so a lot of people are not going to be able to buy a house.

And it's not because the mortgage.

It's going to be because they can't afford the mortgage and the insurance.

Right, Yeah, so you're in the fire, right, I'm not there, but you got one bottle of water. Let me tell you, Let me tell you, Let me tell you, Let me tell you.

How.

How we how we experienced the fire. Like we landed on January seventh. We had just been on family vacation. We heard, oh, there's a fire in the Powersades. We didn't know it was going to be huge. With normal, Yeah, we have fires all the time.

In that area, especially Malibus.

Malibu is my favorite place. Yeah.

So Malibu is right around the corner from the Powasades, and Malibu gets a lot of fires. Palsaids is not as much. But so we land and we see smoke pluming from that area.

You think it was we I was like, it's no, right here, and we literally saw the flame.

Usually when there's fires in l A, I don't see the flame, Like I see the smoke coming from it, but I don't see the flame. But I'm looking in the hills and I'm like, oh, that's an actual flame. And so we're driving back to our houses in Beverly Hills.

So it's between.

The Pasadena fires and the Malibu fires, Palastates fires, and.

We're like, should we leave, should we get out of here?

And we never ended up in an evacuation zone, but when there was a fire in the Hollywood Hills that fell a little too close for comfort, so we were like, we're getting out of here, so we left. We went down to San Diego for like a week, and then we came back home after a week.

So we didn't lose anything.

Some of our very good friends lost their home and had relatives lose their homes, and a lot of people just it just got wiped.

Out and it all happened. Most of it happened in that first.

Day or two because if you looked at the video, it was a hurricane.

Of the wind.

The wind was blowing as fast as it blows down here during a hurricane. It was eighty one hundred miles an hours tornadoes in that mo Yeah, it was literally whipping the fire around, and it like it looked like like a movie, like it couldn't be real, and it was insane, and it took over entire areas really fast, and I never seen anything like.

The tragedy was crazy. I hang out with a lot of conspiracy theorists. Yeah, I don't believe. Some of my family I don't believe. I love to listen, I mean some of these things. And somebody.

Conspiracy theorists of mines said to me that these were caused by the way.

This is not me, This was not me.

This was caused to the areas of the rich so that they could rebuild l A and have this smart l A.

That's what that's what he thinks, right, what do you think of that?

No, because they said the fires didn't come to the hood, is that true or the fires did hit that well, it hit a black neighborhood, hit a black outa Dina so Auta.

Dina was one of the first neighborhoods in Los Angeles that allowed black people to actually live there. I didn't I.

Didn't know about this, uh until until the fires. Like I didn't know this area, this is Altadena is not really close to like a lot of portions of LA that's like kind of far northeast near Pasadena.

But there was a black neighborhood there.

And a lot of the folks there are like middle class, working class, so not everybody was like Hollywood celebrities, but the Palisades. That's an expensive area, Malibu, extremely expensive. These are like some of these are like fifty million, seventy five million dollar homes and so definitely a lot.

Of rich people got hit. But I have a hard time believing that somebody intentionally did that. Did it to Bill smart La, What does that mean?

They're saying the same thing, the same conspiracy that happened in Malway. They said it's a laser that hit to take that property over.

Yeah, I just hear that. I'm always SKEPTI I'm always skeptical.

I always feel like usually the most obvious explanation is the real explanation.

But I could be wrong. Sometimes it was probably caused man made, which the fires.

Happened accidentally, yeah, or even sometimes it's on purpose. But the wind and the dryness just accelerated everything. We hadn't had rain since like last fall rain Soulls of California, that's what.

But we literally we normally would have like they said.

Five or six inches between October first and when the fires happened, we had point one six inch, So that on its own was an accelerant. And then the wind was something we almost never see. The Santa Ana winds at that wind at that speed, So you out there, you combine the speed of the wind and the dryness. That's why it happened. Were you out there we landed, you know after it started.

Wow.

Yeah.

But we never were in the fire, so we didn't see it up close and personal. But close friends of ours were and uh, you know they lost their homes. They didn't make you evacuate. No, we were not in evacuation zone. We were like between evacuation zones. But we left anyway, just for.

A little bit. There's people that lost everything.

Be honest, I thought New Yorkers was stubborn until I moved to Miami.

They won't move for the hurricane. You're like, hurricane is going to kill everybody. They don't really tell everyone is gonna die in Miami. They were like, it's okay, I guess sawtcula go to home. People in public about to get you, and then the ship goes out with listen, yo, but y'all take it. You'll take it too far. Soon as it's a hurricane.

They rack up hurricane party hurricane parties.

The nigga store is gone. They're used to it here many.

Now I'm gonna be honest with you, John Legend, you look like you never had a bad day.

I'm gonna be honest. I'm a little jealous. Man.

I look at you, and you look stressed. Fucking you look like nothing you have had bad days.

But I would say I am probably one of the most kind of, like even killed people you'll ever meet.

I don't have a lot of I don't get really angry very often. I am as chill as you think.

And he compares me, song compares me to Seinfeld because there's this episode of Seinfeld.

Show me the episode I'm ready for it.

Where they say everything always evens out for Jerry.

Oh yeah, because.

Yeah, Son always called me Seinfeld because he's like, everything always evens out for you. Man, you got something happened, something some for some reason, it just always evens out.

So I don't know, Oh my god, oh my god.

Hang out with you, then that's that's my that's you watched Kirby Enthusiasm.

Yes, I love it.

Oh that's my favorite ship. I love shows a lot. I've seen every episode. Okay, yeah, which one you will pick? Curb or or side fel.

Or Curb Curb? I mean too Yeah, most people would say I can love. I'm sorry, man. I love Larry David. Man, I'm love I love them. I love so much.

I don't want to meet him because if I meet him and he'd be like, hey, what the fuck, I'm like, oh.

Man, his whole persona is that he probably wouldn't be nice to you when you met him, and so you're like, maybe that is being.

Nice being not nice to Like.

I was like, it's this restaurant called Club I mean Hotel COASTI is in Paris. Yeah, very nasty people like they're like a little French root the French Route. And one time I went there on my birthday and they were nice to me, and I would say, this is not what I paid for. You're like to me, they got a cigarette when I used to smoke cigarettes and have a cigarettes section all that.

And it was nice to me. One time I didn't like it. Yeah. Yeah, I was on Larry David show.

I was.

I did a guest of parents on he was. He was nice then, and but I hung out mostly with Jeff.

And uh Susie yeah yeah yeah yeah, the lady with the bad mouth and the manager.

Yes. So so what episode was this? This was the bot Mitzvah. I was singing at the bat Mitzvah for their daughter. Uh and uh.

The conceit of the show was that I was one of Jeff's clients and he got me to sing at the bat Mitzvah.

So I sang a song there. This is early, like six early in my career. But that was cool.

And I just sat there and talked to Jeff and Susie the whole time, and they had me cracking up.

Like, yeah, they were funny, Okay, yeah, they were really funny. Now you also got to do a movie with the late great Bernie Mack. Yes, so man, Yeah, you know, you know one of the best lines I ever heard in the world is in that movie when Bernie Mack moves into the old folks home behind and Mike f says, you know, because now you can spend some time with the kids, and Bernie Mack looks to him with all honesty and.

Says, that's an iconic line. That line has been used since then. But how was me and Bertie Mack?

Oh?

Man, he was funny too in person.

You know some comedians they're not funny in person because they they it's like they're saving it for the stage.

Because he's himself.

You can sell Yeah, I have another it's like they're saving it for the stage. But Bernie was really funny in person. Jeff and Susie were very funny in person. And then some people they like they clam up and they don't give you no jokes until you see him on stage.

Yeah, you never met Prince. Yeah, I met Prince. I met Prince of Future. I didn't. I didn't know whatever the story.

Let's put my seatbelt. That's kind of like I was about to ask you did he float? Did he float? When you met him?

I was starstruck. This is one of the first big celebrities I met that I really like, truly was starstruck when I met him. As out Prince on no ass out, his ass was in. I'm sorry. He was close. So at the time he was signed to the same label I was.

He was at Columbia Sony Urban and we had the same exact Lisa Ellis and he was doing a concert at MSG and Lisa was like, you want to come see friends. I was like yeah, so and then he did an after party at bb King's and he he Princess, the craziest musician because he'll do the whole show and then go play the after party.

Uh.

He he would do a three hour show and then go play at the after party.

I've never seen anybody that just loved playing music and kept playing music, kept playing music like he did.

And it was amazing seeing him.

The first time I met him, he was just like, you know, he was on that protect your rights, make sure you get.

Your master's black when you can all that.

And then the next time I saw him, he had one of those after parties that he had after the Grammys or the Oscars in l A. And uh it was a jam session and a bunch of artists were there and I got up.

On stage and jam with him, and STEVEE was there, and uh it was fun. Man, God damn me. Before I get to the Eguy, Michael Jackson met Micah.

Yeah, I met Mike. I met Mike, and Bahrain put back on my hand weird. So this is where he was living.

So he was dealing with all his you know, legal things, and uh, he was living in Bahrain for a while.

Over in the Middle East. It's in the Middle East.

It's overbody like Saudi Arabia and uh, and uh they were having an F one uh event over there, and they had like a celebrity invitational and they were like just trying to get celebrities to come to the F one and I was a new celebrity. I was like, yeah, I'll go to Bahrain on whatever. I heard Michael Jackson, we might get to meet Michael Jackson.

And then, uh, the Crown Prince has a dinner.

At one of his homes and Michael Jackson just walks in and I sit there and it was like a few like round tables, and I'm sitting at the round table where Mike's.

Sitting and We're all just sitting there talking, talking about music whatever. You don't remember the subject we talked.

We talked about We talked about music, we talked about you know, life. I don't know. Is it true about his voice?

He said that he when he were normal, Yeah, he just he doesn't have the same high pitched voice.

It was still pretty. It wasn't deep, Nah, it wasn't deep. It was you know, walking night.

You know, the pictures with Michael Jackson would have grip stories about him not created. He fought all kinds of Mike get crazy.

I'm glad I don't hear a lot of conspiracies. They're fun. Am I here the debunk Conspiracy Factor fiction with John.

So John leszend. We want you to know, man, our show is about giving people the flowers.

Appreciate you. I love the show, but we want to give you your flowers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For it matches my wine bottles too. You know this is my l B E wine and it matches perfect.

So it's not love, it's l v E. Yeah, we call LB, but it's been calling it love too. You can call love to all right?

Cool? You ever drink Whispering Angel? Yeah, this Whispering Angel killer, it's better. You know what I'm saying. It's the killer. It's the killer, the killer Whisper better better than LV. I've tried it plenty of times and and ours is better than their. Yes, fact, Just to say, what did you drink Whispering Age? Drying France? I've drank like the Hampton's France Rich Rich in France. I try to do French, you know brands out there, but now we're doing LV.

Man, that's the only one we're doing. Ours is French too, though, What do you drink in France?

What does it?

Well, I drink a lot of Burgundy wines. So my partner in this wine is a Frenchman. His name is Jean ch.

Rich money to hold.

So he grew up in Burgundy in France, and so his family has been making wine forever and so.

So he's my he's my connect in France. So how did you come up with the wines? Let's talk about that. Yeah, that's a cabernet. Yeah, that's a cabernet. We got a rose.

We got a sparkling rose. We got a sparkling white. We got uh, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc. We got a nice range.

No, uh, we do have a small run of pinoa, not a lot of you know, it's just right now. No, great, ye.

So look, we're gonna want to splain them in the rules quick time.

You got right? Are you ready? You got you gotta ask him what he would like to drink? Please? What we got? Yeah, I'll do shots? Yeah, I take mins chilled? All right, remind me of rules of again. Let's go.

So we're gonna give you two choices. This is to bring up any stories you got with anybody. But if you pick one, we don't drink, don't pick drink. Okay, so you say, but I just got to commit one way that h we drink with you got there?

Yeah yeah, we haven't we having fun, so I gotta set it off off Okay, Yeah, this is not waiting for my shots.

Okay, yeah, yeah, Okay, I think I said I like this. You're ready with the shots coming?

Okay, Chris Brown or Asha, I'm gonna say Usher, okay because the roller skates, because.

Of the rollers, both of them are like supremely talented. But I was on tour with Usher. Me and Kanye were opening for Usher. This is like, this is the Confessions era Usher. So this is right after College Dropout came out and right before Get Lifted my album came out, and Usher's, you know, on top of the world, eight million albums sold, and he's touring arenas for Confessions.

And we're opening for him. So I'm seeing the work he's putting in every day getting the show right. And I see that same.

Level of work ethic and effort and then just pure talent from him still twenty years later.

So I'm a Usher fan for life. You don't go to take a shot because you're right picked. But let me ask you a question. This is off catalog. Your lady asks you to go to Usher concert. Huh and Usher comes over.

Like Kiki, Yeah, ushers out here ruining relationship ship and strawberries. He sees, your lady, are you getting is John Legend? Well, the thing is I slow danced with women on my stage. I understand the guy. I respect the game. You know, he's like a show business business show business. It's cool, but it's cool. She's not coming up volunteering her.

But I respect the game because he literally ruined short these relationships.

Oh boy, he left like he one girl.

It was Keky's baby's father. And uh they weren't married, but you know he he wasn't happy. She was having too much fun.

Who side was you on? He was you on his side? Unher soide?

He like, oh Swiss bell swims.

I said, what up? I just saw him Sunday, But uh listen, Uh like, I say, you got it. That's the game.

It's a show man like he did it in front of everybody. She was sneaking up to his hotel room. It's like in front of everybody. This is fine, it's good.

Your arm b Niggs don't leave your girl. He a song Sidney Poitier or Harry Belafonte.

I gotta go with my guy Harry, because I was close with him before he passed away. I didn't really I met mister Partier, but I spent a lot of time in mister Bellafonte.

And him both missed up. Yeah.

Uh, we really called him mister b and like he was the example of how to be an activist and an artist. And uh he took a lot of classy dudes. Yeah, a classy like extremely talented, and he was the biggest selling artist of his era. Like when he was big, he was bigger than everybody. And so for him to take that and then put it on the line so he could.

Support doctor King and do what everything he did, Like I always look up to him.

He picked. Yeah, Okay, Patti LaBelle or Tina Turner.

Miss Patty that's right, Yeah, I mean Tina was extremely talented.

But I just like Miss Patty's music more. It's like more more of my speed.

Yeah. And I love to drink yeah, and I love Miss Patty. She came on drinking chance for her own glass. Yes, when you spent time with her, she's so real so real. Yeah, like I love her, I really love her. Jada kiss or Nas, I'm ready to drink.

I'm gonna say this is that this is not easy. Actually, I'm gonna say Nas, Okay, we ain't drinking at all today, Okay, this one.

I've done records with both of them, and I love both of them.

I think I just like NAS's voice just a little better, like this, his flow and his voice just a little better.

But Shade is incredible, y'all all you Nas, all of y'all go to light skin karate class.

I know, I know about y'all. I know about meeting meaning. You can't drink out Franklin or Nina Simon. I might drink on this, man. I don't know if I could pick. These are two of my favorites of all time.

Uh, I'm gonna say, Nina Simon, Oh you don't drink shot, don't take a shot.

I take a shot for these are the smallest shots. Usually it's a lot of shots. It's a long game. We didn't think. We didn't think. We thought she was going to be like very well correct. Don't know, man, I'm telling you my truth. He saying that shit was hot as hell, yeah, you want it Whitney Houston or Amy Winehouse Whitney. That was easy. I should take a shot for knowing that I love Amy though I love her music. I met her. I met Amy when she was brand like when that Back.

To Black album, So she had already had another album that didn't really pop, and then the Back to Black album was about to come out, and I was on later with Jules Holland, which is a British show which

That album, and then I.

Did a couple songs from my second album, and she walked up to me like like she was a brand new writers, like handing me her a demo and handing me Back to Black, which ended up, you know, taking over the world right after that, but at that point it hadn't done that yet and it was about to.

But that's when I first met him. Wow, yeah, Sam Cook or Teddy Pintograph mm hmmm taking a shot.

It's not easy. I'm gonna say Teddy just because there's just more jams that I love, you know. Yeah, you see look at Teddy Pograd. Baby, that's a Philly man.

You know.

He uh fly Eagles Fly? Is this gonna air after the super Bowl? Yeah?

This would be at the super Bowl. Yeah, you knows what happened. I'm over the Chiefs.

You know.

If I got to choose, you patched him my home cousin.

I got family look more like Jayleen Hurston. But I went to scoring Philly. I went to you, that's right. Yeah, so I got you know, yeah, I got love for Philly.

Okay, Jesus man, Philly. Get to the kig on like that Biggie or Big L Biggie. I never was like completely into Big L like, but I was definitely into Biggie. Okay, DJ College or DJ Drama. I gotta go with College man.

I did like twenty records with College and legendary record with niy Hustle exactly believe that was his last video and to take it all the way back, we did a record with good music me a consequence. We did a record called Grammy Family with Collein.

That's a big record.

That was like when that was the early days when Colin first started making those compilation albums, and uh, he didn't win a Grammy. Colin didn't win a Grammy until we wanted together with Nipsey for Hire.

Oh wow.

It was called the Grammy Fan and the early record was called Grammy Family. But years later we wanted his first Grammy together.

I needed this is any criteria you want Yay or Pharrell? Mhmm, I say Yay, Okay, yeah right.

I just started working with Pharrell recently, yeah, on music. So we stepped in the studio and we started working on some new music. First time working together.

We'd only done a couple of songs together.

Okay, but you know, obviously Yay and I have done a thousand records together, and I'm truly a fan of Yay as a producer and an artist over the years too.

So, but I love both of them.

I mean, just think how influential both of them have been to all of our culture, not just what we listened to, what we wear everything.

It sounds like we're taking a shot, no, he picked a okay, okay, okay, so like we're taking it like a.

Like a.

Honorable shot. Let's mean you take a shot and oh ship okay, yes, La or Miami. Mm hmm.

Well I live in l A, and I think Miami. I enjoy partying here more than I do l A.

But I live in LA. It's like, you know, my kids go to school there, l A.

Like you want to say, Miami's more Miami's more fun in doses, and then La.

Is where I stay.

Okay, it's all you, this is me sein fell a Kirby enthusiasm. We've established this curb. Yeah, yes, but let's explain to the people why.

Well, I think the fact that on HBO gives it more leeway to like say all the jokes, you know, say all the funks they want to say, and everything else. But also I think us getting to know Larry, who was the creator of exactly, I think that was a revelation. So I think that's what makes kurb better is his his personality. Because George was always a really funny part of Seinfeld anyway.

But having the real George, having Larry there is.

Like it makes it better, all right.

Now I want to ask you what is your favorite Seinfeld episode and what is your favorite curb episode?

Now this is this is not with drink Chance, but one in one. I don't know, that's a good one.

I like the one where they're doing the contests in Seinfeld. That's a good one where they're like seeing who's going jack off first?

Oh yeah, come out you were JBS? Move is Kramer? And yeah like that?

Yes, he's like the black you went with the episode? Yes, se felt it's called the con. Now that's your favorite curve?

My favorite curve? Oh, man, I gotta think about that. I don't know, I really have to think about it.

You know what my favorite curve when they he hired the people to be Christians in front.

Of down and the Nativity said, because you know he's Jewish, so he hired Christian, but his wife is Christian. His wife is Christian Christian, and I think he didn't feed them or something wrong. So that's my favorite. If you think about it, we'll come back to yes. The next one. Swiss Beachs are Timberland.

I'm gonna say Tim, it's fucked up because I know all these people very well, so.

I'm gonna see yes, I'll say Tim.

Honestly, there's more Tim records that I'm like, are some of the greatest records of all time? That then I think of Swiss, But I love a bunch of Swiss records too. But I'm gonna say Tim. Okay, Most Deaf or to Live, Most Deaf or Black Dog Black Dot Okay. I just think if Most was still giving us material then it would be closer. But I think because Black Dot has been so prolific, h and consistent and prolific.

Uh, you got to show up? Is this show biz? Man?

If you show up and you're making records, then like, uh, there's there's points.

For that, you know, like the montaue to show up? Okay, analog of digital?

Well, we we run everything through analog before we put it on digital.

To this day, we run it through the tape. Really.

Yeah, when I make a record, we run it through the tape first and then.

Put it to digital. We say tape you meet real, Yeah, get the out of school, Yeah yo, let me make some noise. You know. Cartel said that yesterday too on the rail Oh ship. Yeah, you can run into tape before you put it on digital. Oh man, So there's best of both. It just gives it that flavor. That home you picked that digital. I'm goinging analog.

Thank you.

That's not going all the time. Marvin Gay or Al Green, Marvin, Damn, It's easy.

I was flying through this. I'm just willing to commit.

You know, I'm gonna make it, even if I like I might have second thoughts later, I'm gonna decide, you know, Dre or Quincy Jones. Oh, it's like apples and oranges. But I'm gonna say Quincy just the range of probably musicianship,

Of work he was able to do. Yeahgazine, heay, he.

Produced a fresh Prince of bel air, roots, color purple.

He just gave us everything. Yeah, thanks one.

Get lifted or my favorite dream, get lifted. It's a good segue. Let's promote get listed. Twenty years so this is the twentieth anniversary. It gets listed right now. And we just did the luxe edition of the album with the original album first, but then a whole extra album, the whole I did it all over, Yeah, a whole extra album of remixes. So I did The Ordinary People with Thames, the APPROB version.

I did Approb version of Refuge with Semi.

Both of them are from Nigeria. And then I did a couple of hip hop remixes. I did Black Thought on used to Love You with ninth Wonder I'm making the B and then uh You making the ninth d Yeah, and then on Let's Get Lifted Again, I had Killer Mike and Lil Wayne each do a verse and uh So the remixes are dope, but we have the original versions first, and then at the end of the album.

You can listen to the remixes. M that's fine, m J or Prince.

Childhood. Tell this is a shot A you got four shots us to do four times at least.

I'm gonna say both MJ.

If I'm just going record for record, like the songs that had the most impact in.

My life, I feel like MJ had more. They say, they say MJ is just as famous as Jesus.

Do you believe that now at his peak, at his peak, yeah, I'm sure, yeah, yes, but if you ask a kid now, like I don't know, but during that time, he was everything. Like the first like merch I ever had was a Michael Jackson Thriller folder for school.

Zipper jacket. Yeah, zip jacket too. You look like you had to go. Yeah, so you definitely had.

I was born in seventy eight, so I was born in seventy eight, so my first time going to school was like mid eighties, and like.

That was everything when Thriller, when that video came out.

My parents were very religious, so Prince they like thought Prince was a little too like uh crazy, a little too wild he was. Yeah, so he was like forbidden through at the house for a while. But MJ, you know, we could get away with that.

That's just great because both of them had very religious families. Yeah, and Prince was very religious. Yea, Prince became even more religious. I think it was Jehoah's witness. Our Seventh Day venis one of Stevie Wonder or Smokey Robinson, Stevie you know. Snoop Dogg said that Stevie wants face thoms him.

Yeah, Steevie facetimes, what's just the one that Georgie Clinton. Jorine Clinton said that he saw him across the busy street.

Everybody's got everybody got Stevie. Give everybody. Everybody's got Stevie's not blind.

Stories.

Shaq said he seen he seen Stevie getting the elevator, said, what's up, Diesel.

Black. I don't remember that bar, but we need to No, I.

Mean, everybody's got him. Like, but I went to his studio.

You've seen him rolling up and he was just walking around like like he was seeing everything.

But it was also his studio, so so like he's he's been there a lot. He walking around.

He's literally blind, but he's actually not one hundred percent blind because I don't know.

I don't know. I never asked. I never had when I never asked.

Because men, the stories are crazy. Stevie family calling him like.

We spoke about him almost every but he likes to make jokes about it too, Like he makes blind jokes all the time.

He has blind jokes all the time. He'll just say like yeah, I'll drive over there, I'll see you when I like he'll drive over because Oprah board him with may back. He said he was gonna I'm dropping exactly. He says it all the time, though he'll joke about it all the time.

We would love to have him one, but I've never asked him. Stevie, be real with me, are you really blind?

You're pulling? You know what's crazy. Like most blind people, they feel your face to see how you you look.

I've never seen Steve. Steve touch anybody's face. I've never seen I'm just being I love. I mean, you see him as a famous person. He's had someone next to me like you're about to see.

Yeah, he's always got somebody next to her. All right.

If I'm betting, I'm betting he's blind. Okay, okay, Uh, Brothers of the Parliament, Isaacs. Just more records that you know resonate with me.

Tony Tony Tony or BBD Tony Tony.

Tony, same answer, More records that resonate me.

I mean, I'm I'm close with Raphael too, and he's produced a couple of my albums.

And uh and.

Raphael sadiqu the you know, lead singer and one of the great producers. He's just one Album of the Year with with Beyonce for the country album. Uh, he was part of that, and he's part of that and part of renaissance, and he's a part of everything like that. You don't even know, like di'angelo Lady Untitled by di'angelo, like some of the great R and B records of all time, he's behind.

And then all those Tony Tony records.

Are amazing too, great new addition or BBD No, No Jackson five, Jackson five, my bad Jackson Fine, Okay, it's the guys from Boston.

He's mad Tony, Tony Tony or BBD. I know we did that one. We did that one. Hmm. I'm gonna say Rion Alicia is my friend too.

But as a fan just listening, I probably listened to Rihanna Moore and again more records that I'm like in love with of hers.

Yeah, y'all got a couples b something you just swiss And no, man, I don't really love both of them. Man, I truly love both of them. They're like wonderful people. I'm just speaking as like a as a as a non biased man.

And they both drink chancelortle. Oh soul man coming to America. Oh, coming to America. This is coming into America too. They put yes, oh coming to America too. Wow, so man, we'll good it to so man. Both movies.

Those are both Malcolm Lee movies because you SWI Okay, oh shot, that's my guy, Malcolm Lee. He just texted me this week.

All right. This last question they get back in the interviews, loyalty or respect? Mm hmm.

I'm gonna say that's a good question, m respect. And the reason why I will say I think I think we should want respect more than we want loyalty from people, just because, first of all, respect will come with loyalty anyway, but.

I want.

Sometimes loyalty can bleed over into being blind loyalty and people not telling you what you don't want to hear, etcetera, etcetera. So like yes, man, yeah, so I would rather have respect. Okay, this makes noise for that, John Legend. I'm gonna tell you something. I'm not sure if anybody ever told you this. I think you should run for president.

No, someone has told me that before a few times, but I don't think I have put coporations. Look you, honestly, I love California.

I love being involved in everything, and I'll stay involved, but I just feel like I would not enjoy running for it or being at Let's let's say you.

Let's just say you you did like you woke up the next day tomorrow and I'm tomorrow, I'm gona run for president. Who would be your vice president?

Who would you? I don't know?

She got real?

So seriously, who who? Who you pick?

Who? Right now?

Like tomorrow, I don't know now, I don't know loaded would it be dope if you was to pick Barack? Yo?

I just feel like backs my man pronounced it, Barack Obama Obama? Sure would that would that'd be crazy? John legend run of a fucking president?

Yeah?

And Borack come out he quit walking or something like. You know what I'm saying, like he do something like coming out to be.

You know, I'm not bad. You know, I'm going over to place. I'm excited. I'm excited. Lexic kids, Who would you pick? Who would you pick? You know?

I feel like it shouldn't be a celebrity, No, no, no, whatever. If it's going to be me, it shouldn't be a celebrity that it should be a politician. Yeah, that may be so so let's get wild. Let's George Clinton or somebody.

I'm just just your choice. I'm sorry.

Uh, Kerrie Washington, she's an actor, okay, yeah, playing president she was a scandal.

She was a scandal. Okay. Well the thing about Carrie is I've seen her.

Behind the scenes and she's like really politically aware, and she's really great at organizing and motivating people, and she would be amazing and she's a great communicator.

Okay, I thought that through. You can give him. I'm thinking for I think he's gonna pick for real. You wanted to make the best beats for the way out?

This should be being wrong, yes, okay, all right, twenty nineteen. How many haters did you get?

Of course of this cover? So many see now this is this is.

When if I was on Twitter. I was on Twitter back then, and I made an intentional choice to not check my Twitter.

It wasn't on black Twitter when this game. I did not check my Twitter when that cover came out. It was gonna be because I knew it's not gonna be nice because there's no win situation for you.

Becuzin some people are like, hey, great, but most people are gonna be like fuck him.

Somebody else should have won. And then and then they let all the other people that should have won. So I'm like, fuck, y'all, I'm not.

Reading your tweets, but how did they call you for this couple?

My publicist called me and they're they're like, we got big news.

John, Let's take a shot for you. That's not a part of the show. I was just taking a shot the sexiest man alive.

Jesus Holy Ship.

They said we got big news, and I was like really, And I was already thinking like, oh man, I'm gonna get so much ship for this.

But I was like, all right, let's do it. And so then they set up the photo shoot. They did the whole thing.

Did that at our house, and you know you did the photo shoot. Yeah, the help come to me. Did you charge you for that? We usually do charge like a location field. Goddamn, you gotta double it. We gotta talk about EGOT. Yeah, all right, listen, I'm gonna be honest with you. You're probably the only EGOT Award winner I'm ever gonna meet, not life.

Well, you could meet Jennifer Hudson. You can bet Jennifer she is now. She might not have been when you met definitely.

The first here on Drink Champs, and then whoopee Whoopy was the first black person to become a EG.

I was the second.

I was the first black man, and then Jay Hudd and now Viola also is.

An E guy Davis, Yes, okay, so all right, let's explain to mother fuckers.

So he got it's an Emmy, a Grammy, yeah, Oscar? Yeah, and I forgot what the last one?

Tony?

Did you say?

What is? That's Broadway? Broadway, That's what we produced, were to play.

We produced a play called Jitney and it won a Tony, and.

So that's my tea.

That's awesome, man, congratulations, So which one did you get?

First? The Grammys?

So my first Grammys were three Grammys for my debut album Get Lifted twenty year anniversary this year, goddamn.

Oh.

So I won Best New Artist, Best R and B Album, and Best R and B Male Vocal Performance for that album and for Ordinary People. And then since then I've won thirteen Grammys. Thirteen and then I won an Oscar for Glory with Common.

We wrote that for Selma, and then.

After that I won the Tony for Jitney, which is a play written by August Wilson, and we produced a revival of it and we won Best Revival on Broadway and then only needed the Emmy, and NBC called me up and asked me to start as Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar Live production that they did for NBC and.

That play.

That musical was written by Andrew, Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice and they all three of us only needed an Emmy to get the egot, and we all wanted at the same time.

When we won Best Live Music.

Is there a point where you're getting closer, You're like, now you're shooting for You're like this.

My team knew that all I needed was an Emmy, and they're like, and I have a production company and we produced TV and film, so like, if anything we produced would get an Emmy, then I would have an egot. So they're like, man, we're gonna get you this egot.

So so we produced Jesus Christ Superstar Live.

And it won the Emmy.

So yeah, well, I'm gonna tall you well for first of us to make some noise for that. Well, I'm gonna tell you something. Uh, you know, I'm an artist first, and I believe in I'm pro artist, super pro artist.

Right, So we've been doing this nine years, nine years, eight years, nine years.

I was like nine years, nine years, right, and due these nine years, no one has ever sent us a writer.

You are the only one who's sitting there. I was so happy the artist in me. I was like, he has to send us a writer. It's funny because I haven't even been to the dressing room, so I don't even know if I have a rider. I was.

The artist in me because I cool, this is this is one thing, right, And I lost money on you too.

I bet he was gonna be on time. We always bet.

This is.

This is how I was there two oh nine, No, no, you said too, or nine you came here two and sixteen? Yes, I lost.

Literally bet and I I bet my mind. I was like, no, miss, I'll called you miss the legend. I was like, the legend will be on time, and he's gonna be on But holy molyam those were saying before saying that he was late.

The writer, the writer that ship touched me.

I was a writer because we got like small riders and then big specifically purple grapes in there that.

I like, I like, I love that we just have like that.

We have like the streamlined version and then I got the full version for the show and everything.

So let me tell you, I apologize, I love it. Do not apologize. That is dope. Your team is dope. Let me let me just tell you something. Sorry. I was going to go to.

I was on tour in Japan, right and every city that I went to, the promoter was like, he just kept hugging me because my writer was just like Hennessy at the.

Time, blunt and maybe kid like I had. I had no fruit, I had no water.

And he was And I said to him, I had like a twenty four city tour with him, So I was like, Yo, why do you keep hugging me every time that I go in the dressing room?

He was like, because I just had l L.

Do you imagine what l El's writer was in Japan? He wanted green apples. I don't even think green apples go past He's ghost.

So he was just happy. How he was just happy, how simple you're I was? And I didn't so this whole nine years. You know, he's Hollywood. You know I believe only one of yell skittles.

He wanted to open up everything that was all violator old bout of the end. I booked you out here for the first time and I got your writer.

It was crazy.

You had like to two palettes of snapples or something crazy like gon ship.

Dude, By the way, do you make your own writer? Because I don't make my writer. I have input.

Yeah, okay, I'll like like when I don't like where we are with it, like because maybe like I wanted this two years ago, but I want it now, then I'll.

Go back and go through it and edit it.

So the last tour we went on, I went through and edited it and I haven't had to say anything since then.

You know what should have We should do a documentary music people ride us? Yeah, because different people like different ship.

They revolt, they they listen to my writer. Unfortunately, when I got the what's the drink?

I got you're drinking fireball? This is like a frat boy.

To me.

Here's your writer, oh ship? I went on from there.

By the way, I'm sorry to switch the subjects up, but if if, if God came to you right now, and God says John Legend, I need you to make one record to save humanity, and you got one feature and you got one producer dead or alive, the feature and the producer dead or live.

You got one record.

This record that you make John Legend is going to save humanity and put people on motherfucking.

Mars to live. Yeah. Yeah. He said, you don't want to work with Elon Mark. I don't believe nobody. I haven't worked with that. I love that. I shouted out today Timberland.

Tim, you can have a feature if you want, dad or live. We're talking like a singer or a rapper, whatever you want.

This is John Legend, world's doing with a banjo.

Uh, let's do Tim tim Bow and hove. I was just listening to Dirt off your shoulder in the car.

Crazy record. Yeah nasty. I just saw a video of the first moment he showed whole that Tim eat the banana. It was awkward, but it was it was banana in his mouth. He just held it. What do you like more, performing or making the record? I like to make the record, man, hmm. I love both.

I'm gonna say my favorite part is writing writing. Yes, for other people, writing for myself, but I.

Mean for other people too.

But I love starting with nothing and ending the day with something new that could change my life.

That that's a.

Special It's like, Hey, that didn't exist before today and we made it, and it's amazing. You always think it's amazing for the first day, and it's not always amazing, but that feeling, there's nothing like him. Right, Okay, let's take it back to the beginning. How did we start. So I grew up in Ohio. Grew up in a small city called Springfield. And uh my family is very next with Dave Chappelle and that right, So if he was on SNL, he was.

Talking about my hometown the other day because.

The whole eating Yeah, the Haitians are there and and uh so Trump was making up shit about them on.

On the debate stage.

But that was my city. That's where I grew up. So I grew up in Springfield, Ohio. My family is very involved in the church. So my grandpa was the pastor, my grandmother was the organist, my mom was the choir director. So I just grew up around people who made gospel music all the time. And so I piano at the house, drums at the house, and before the piano hit for you all right, yeah, but yeah, I just grew up around music all the time, especially in church, and I

In church choir when I was seven, and you know, it's been my life. God damn it, you love it. I love it.

But you said, you said you're celebrating your debut album, but you had music that you had albums before this independently, all.

Independent albums, A couple of them.

They basically were like demos that I was, you know, trying to get signed with, but I was also selling them at my shows, so I would play.

I was living in New York, and I was working in the.

Daytime as a consultant, so like this very like white collar job in.

The business world, corporate world.

But at night I was trying to get signed, and I would play gigs around New York, so I would sell my little demos at the shows. And so that I graduated college in ninety nine, moved to New York in two, and I got signed in four and Get Lifted came out four, So I had like those four or five years out of school where I was just trying to get signed, but also working.

A day job. That's when I met Ya.

That's when I met a lot of the people that I wrote the first album with was during that time.

Okay, we're gonna get back to that. But is this true that you have to eat a rotesttery chicken meal before every.

That's in my show writer, that wasn't in this right, that's in my constant. I don't need the whole chicken, but I ordered half a chicken.

Okay, why.

I just like the feel of it. Boston Market. It's Boston Market. The market, yeah, okay, Boston Market too. Was it called Boston Boston Market used to be called Boston Chicken.

It started as Boston Chicken, then it became Boston Market because that's.

That's how the chicken. I've been to Boston. I've never seen that chicken in Boston.

I'm just asking, like anybody else has That's a good question, like I've never seen that chicken start in Boston. That sounds from that's the reason why. But have you ever had that Boston Market chicken in Boston?

Ok? I love the market. He's serious about it, so we established you don't get mad. I'm very very mellow guy. It's rarely do I lose my cool. I got to ask you this straight up.

We had Kanye on this app on it I saw and we had two different we had two different different episodes. Yes, and this is this is your according to your words, as you're saying, this is like your mentor somebody that you looked up, somebody that puts you on. We made a lot of great music together, and we came we came up together.

Right, Sometimes does it disturb you, Oh, how did you feel?

Like?

Oh? Absolutely disturbs me some of the things he says.

And and I'm not as just serve for me because what he said about me, I think.

I'm like, obviously it was a good thing for him and for me that he signed me. I wasn't worried about the literal words that he said. I didn't take it personally. But I just feel like a lot of times he seems to be going through ship and and every once in a while we'll get, you.

Know, these flurries of outbursts from him, and it's sad.

Man.

I don't love seeing it. Man, I don't love seeing it for him because you know him, like, yeah, like these people to most people, and I don't want to stay on this. I'll get you know, you know, well most people it's entertainment.

Right, yeah, And it's like, but that's your that's your brother, and it is outrageous, and sometimes it's funny, like and some of my friends will like, you know, text me hear what Kanye said. Yeah, I'm like yeah, but like part of it's sad, you know, it's sad seeing it.

That it gets clouded by all the other shit.

God bless man, because to go more to the musical side of it, like yeah, that journey that when you guys connected in the beginning, but was that like how so what stage of his career and for you, like, what.

Was that whole that was good music? Correct? Yeah, So it didn't even exist good music. It didn't exist when we met. So I'm a new artist.

I'm, like I said, working by day as a management consultant in New York, one of my roommates I went to college with. His name is Devo, and Devo had a cousin from Chicago that was about to move to the area and his name was Kanye West. So Devo he's not known neither, no, but he had just started working Jay and Dame and all them at Rockefeller and he had just him and just Blaze basically did the whole blueprint.

That's right. That's right.

So when I met Kanye was May of two thousand, or like late spring or early summer in two thousand and one. And I remember because it was at Jimmy's Uptown and I recorded that show at Jimmy's Uptown and Harlem, Yeah, Jimmy's Uptown.

Yeah, We're gonna stab somebody.

So I'm doing a show there and we recorded it and we actually put out a live record to my fans of that recording. So that's why I knew when I met him, was because it was that day that we record the show, and.

My roommates like, you gotta meet my cousin.

He just moved to New York and he's producing for Rockefeller, and we met and then we started working together a few months later. He was working on his demo and he was trying to get signed as a rapper, but everybody was like.

Yeah, you keep that serious.

Yeah, because not me for a second, because Farrell always downplays when when like when me and Pharrell, Farrell was cocky as ship, even as a person that was coming up was Kanye Kky.

Yeah he was cocky. Yeah cool is Susan right.

He's not the same as he was back then, but he was. He's always like had.

A strong say yeah all.

Right, yeah, yeah, was like he's so humble now I'm like, none of the motherfucker I remember.

But when the guy told you my cousin, did you already know about his production?

No, it wasn't out yet.

So the Bluebird came out nine eleven, remember nine eleven, on the day of nine eleven, and that's that's yeah, he's debut as a productor that.

Was his first big moment as a producer.

So yeah, which was a single before the album came out, and then he had a few cuts on the album and then Blaze did the other side, so it was just like both of them were the album basically, so that soul sample sound was the whole blueprint sound and yay, and just Blaze did the whole thing basically, and he's telling you this and you believe him, Like I'm like, let's meet him.

Like at this point, it's like I'm trying to get signed too, and I'm like, let's try it.

You know, like I don't know him, but we'll see.

And you never know what hip hop producers because some aren't musical enough because they're more like being driven and you know, I'm an R and B artist, some more soulful, so I want somebody that still has some musical underpinnings. And the good thing about Yay was he he was using all the soul samples and the music was very soulful. So it was like the perfect blend of soul and

You met before that before the accident, and I think he was signed by the time he had that SID But.

Damn and m Our impression was they signed him just so they could keep him in house for Beef, yes, not because they really thought he was going to be successful. We saw artists who were so much.

You Meydan Sie like the crew, so we got this, yeah, the whole crew.

Yeah, so we and I started to get to know them later. But you know, Devo was working with him, my roommate. He was like basically running his production company. And so you know, Kanye really believed in himself as a solo.

Artist, and a lot of his team did, but I felt and a lot of us felt like Rockefeller didn't.

So he gets an accident. Can I tell you real question to add to the story.

I was working for Deaf Jam at the time, and they weren't pushing him as an artist. He went and sent he got the list of all the street teams, sent the white labels of his singles hustling, and started a conference call with himself and all the street teams. So, yeah, we're pushing this like himself. Yes, outside of the infrastructure of the label.

He was so entrepreneurial. He put out his own mixtape and he got an accident and made through the wire. And then he started just camping because he got an accident in La. So he started just camping out at the w and Westwood in l A. Yeah, And so I would go out there from New York whenever I had time, and we would work on College Dropout with him, and I wrote used to love you out there, uh, and some of my songs forget Lifted. And that's when I started to see after the accident this new sense

You put on the whole.

I played piano on Everything Is Everything on Lauren Hill's album, and I said to ya when.

I was listening to g Walks, I was like, I feel like I was part.

Of one album that changed the world in ninety eight and this is album is about to do the same thing in two thousand and four.

And you got credit for Laurence Hill. Yeah, I feel like John Stevens, Yeah I Stevens. Yeah, you know that's wild, that's crazy, because how did you go the Let's just finish this right?

So anyway, that time was crazy because we're all out in la We're meeting up with him, he's recovering from the accident, but he's got this new sense of purpose and uh, he's making the best music of his.

Life up to that point, and it just felt like the.

Momentum was was there and it was going to be a big, special album and it was sure was Yeah, but.

How about the Grammy family, Like, yeah, you had the whole industry shook up?

Yeah, every Monday at one point or we.

Were doing the Good Fridays Friday my bad, I said, Monday's lets you know how much I'll be drinking? Like was that something that y'all all got together and said we're gonna fuck up the industry?

I think sometimes YA just gets in that like creative like uh, like that just.

Extra excitement and he's ready to like he's just got all these ideas and he just wants to.

Get him out and he's like, that's just good Fridays. That was the time.

He's like everybody at the studio needs to wear a suit and tie, and so everybody was dressing like there was in Reservoir Dogs.

At the studio. They called it the Rose with Era. It was like a whole thing.

So sometimes he's just beyond one and he's like that's his thing at that time.

And that's what he be on.

That's yeah, God damn, I wish y'all good into the studio. Well a goddamn reservoir dog.

Oh jesus. He called it the Rosewood era.

So then you get so so now getting into your project, transitioning from his Yeah, So it was all happening at the same time though, so uh, we were working on like used to Love You and some of the joints from Get Lifted during the same time that we're working on College Dropping Really at the same time.

It was all happened at the same time.

We're both trying to get I was trying to get signed after he had already gotten signed to Rockefeller, and I eventually signed to Good Music and my roommate was running the label for him, so I was basically signed to my roommate's.

Label with his cousin.

And eventually after College Dropout came out, that was when the industry really.

Started to be like, okay, we fucked with the whole crew.

So before that, we took the same music to all the labels and they turned us down or they gave us a low offer. And when College Dropout came out, everybody changed their tune.

We had a bidding war and I signed with Columbia. And who was the crew at the time? You consequence GLC, don C. I mean those are the artists. Me consequence GLC and ya that those are the artists. But then don ce John Monopoly. The whole crew was you know, we were touring together, we're opening for us, sure together.

Uh that was the crew? Crazy, man? Did you ever think? Because yeah, I was like almost like the modern day Wu Tang clan right.

Like like but not exactly okay, but with different like you know, you had to push.

Your te you had consequence, Yeah, you had you. You had kick cutting Sean Big Sean.

Like during that during that Good Friday's time, that was a like latt Roster was crazy.

I'm not gonna be honest as an industry person, we were scared of that Friday. You did not like it, Like I'm not gonna say I'm not fucking making.

Music no more so.

Yeah said the records like click and some of those records were insane.

Yeah, Like we were mad at y'all. We were like why why did y'all want to just blogging? Yeah? It was wow.

And then right around that time, right after that time, Jay and Kanye start working on Watching the Throne, like probably this is the one, this is the main Washington, Yeah, the only one.

Yeah.

So this is around twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, he's he's up in the Mercer. They talk about the song the Mercer Hotel in New York.

And I'll tell you something about car Let's let you know.

So they were literally they were literally in the Mercer Hotel and he just brought his studio equipment in there and was making Watch the Throne with Jay and then we made Love in the Future, my album that came out in twenty thirteen, in that same hotel, and so all of me was on that. I didn't do that one with Yay, but Yay produced the whole like executive produced the whole album.

And that was another crazy time.

So there's been these times when Yay's really on like a creative tear and producing some of the best music of that era. It was incredible.

Again, like I said it earlier, I feel like you never had a bad day.

I just feel it because I just feel like you're a positive person, which is really really, really really dope to see in this day and time, because there's a lot of negative shit going on?

Yeah, is there anything that you regret?

I mean, I have regrets all the I mean there's things I would do differently now, But.

I honestly, I don't think about regrets because.

I feel like everything that happened happened, and I wouldn't be here if all of it didn't happen, like the good and the bad. Like, I just feel like all of it brought me to where I am, and I love where I am, and I learned from everything.

Goddamn, that was the most people, John leg I gotta ask you, do you we want time? I only got a little bit right here, all right. I'm not trying to get rid of it yet.

I'm yeah, I'm coming out with Forwards. He's coming out with the Great You. I got like ten Grays down here. He's coming up with the Virgins. Where can make it be it grayer?

Yeah? Okay.

One of the most beautiful records in the world, all over the world, not New York, not America, ordinary people, Thank you, thank you.

One of the most like listeners in the world. Thank you.

How did you make it so? That started with Will I Am and the Black Eyed Peas? So I had the same manager as them David Sonenberg.

And we when he signed me, he was like, I'd love to get you in with Will.

I am from the Black Eyed Peas and at the time, it was before they really blew up with Fergie and everything, and they were still like an underground group pree Ferki Yeah. So, but he was always a dope producer. And so I went out to La the first time and we wrote she.

Don't Have to Know.

We wrote something for a compilation album that Will was doing, and then Will really liked writing with me. I wrote a hook for the Black Eyed Peas, and then after I got signed, it was like the summer two thousand and four. I just gotten signed in May and he was in New York and he was like, can you come by Hit Factory when we used to have Hit Factory.

In New York? Remember that and.

Fifty seven Street, Yeah, right around there. And then so he was in the studio and he was like, can you just write some hooks for us? I love writing with you. So he would just play beats and I would just see what hook I could come up with, and.

I came up with wid and the repeat pople to a beat.

So it wasn't like stripped down piano ballot like it was on my album.

It was to a B and it was going to be a hip hop song for the Black Eyed Piece with me on the hook that mind, thinking of the Black Eyed Piece.

I wrote the chorus just listening to the music and seeing what I recorded it that night, just the hook. And then a few days later I'm like, well, you can keep every other idea I wrote, but I want to keep ordinary people for myself, and he was like, okay, no problem.

I was like, I'll let you produce it, no problem. Like, but I feel like it'll be a better R and B song than like a pop hip hop song.

And I started messing with it on tour. I went on a European tour with Kanye, and every.

Soundtrack, every soundcheck, I would write more of the verses to ordinate people. And so I basically wrote the chorus in the studio with Will and the verses on the road with Ya. And I recorded a demo back in La on just piano, and I played it for everybody and I was like, yeah, Will I Am is going to produce it, blah blah blah, and everybody's like, don't fuck with that. Leave it alone and so we ended up leaving it stripped down, just vocal piano, and.

That's how it came out.

And back then, remember the samplers you used to get at DJ, so they would hand out the samplers and it was my first single, Used to Love You with the Halla haa la Halla, and then three snippets of other tracks from the album, and then it ended with a full version of Ordinary People.

So this is, you know, late two thousand and four.

I'm out on the road with USHERINGA from August to October. Used to Love You came out during that time, and we're promoting it at every stop on the Usher tour. I'm going to do radio and we're giving them the sampler and in Chicago they were like, yeah, used to he was cool, but they just decided at w g C I they were going to start playing. They made that the single ordinary People, and they made it to single by it blowing up in Chicago first and then took over.

Because a lot of people thought you was from Chicago.

Yeah, yeah, because ya and everybody, But I grew up in Ohio, but uh never lived in Chicago, but you know, I love Chicago. But yeah, but they really claimed me as their own too, just because of the Yea connection and and uh and they were the first ones that loved Ordinary People and Yay loved it so much that he wanted to direct the video. So he ended up directing the Ordinary People video. So if you look at it, that's him, that's his work.

Did we'll ever get upset that he couldn't produce it? No, he got some publishing. Really, yeah, he got some publishing, and uh, you know I wound up producing it. Yeah.

Well, he knew that it was better that way, like stripped down it just it made more impact that way, and you got to think about like what was coming out in R and B at that time. There's nothing else like just like that striped down pan Alicia a little bit, but not even uh, it was just it stood out from the radio and so like a caapella.

Yeah yeah, but do you think you're an ordinary person? I mean, what does that even mean? You know what I'm asking they here's the writer, Here's what I think, what you mean, Here's what I think.

I think.

When I wrote the song, I was thinking about my parents because they had gotten divorced, then back together, then divorced again right before my second my first album was about to come out, and so I'm writing and thinking, like, you know, we don't know which way to go, and.

So I'm writing it based on their situation.

But the bottom line is, I think, no matter if you're rich or poor, celebrity or not, like, everybody goes through shitting the relationships.

And in that sense, yes, I'm an ordinary person. I love that answer, but you're not.

There's a lot of extraordinary things about my life. Yes. Do you think.

So many people say overnight success right right? That shit doesn't exist. It almost never happens that way. It never happened.

Yeah, But do you think that you fast forwarded from that child prodigy to superstarter?

Well, it didn't feel like fast forward to me because I'm like working at days, y'all work.

Asking for the people out there.

I'm like, I'm like, and I didn't get signed until I was twenty five, So it wasn't like I was, you know, getting signed like some of these artists gets signed when they're eighteen, nineteen, fourteen, fifteen, And you know, back then, I thought I was ready. You know, when I was fourteen, I was like singing the talent shows. I'm like, why is somebody signing to me now, But I didn't even know what went into getting signed, you know, what went into being a real artist, not just a singer.

So you have to grow, you have to learn.

And I thought I was ready then, but I wasn't ready until my mid twenties, and then you know, it was time, goddamn. And the you know, the cool thing not to interrupt your plause, but the cool thing was I keep bringing it up, but bringing it up being with you a during that time, he became famous like a year before I did.

So it was almost like I got to you saw it, watch it.

While he was experiencing, and I was right there, and it made it easier for me to transition into being the front guy.

What I was going to say is, do you think that that process, which is a time frame now with the internet, like you said, these kids are making themselves viral and getting deals eighteen or younger, do you think that process takes away from their careers.

Well, I think I've said this before and I really believe it that it's hard to be sustainable if you haven't done like the prep work early on, like doing shows like when nobody's there, like quote.

Unquote development, yes, yeah, exactly, development, whether you develop yourself or you're in a part of a real artist plot, like.

Doing a show in front of fifty people before you have to do one in front of fifteen thousand people.

Like having that.

Just foundation of performing and and building your career experience, building your story, building your experiences. It doesn't mean you can't make dope music then, but it's hard to do everything right if you haven't spent some time preparing and I really think performing.

Practicing as a performer. You just look at like we talked about Usher.

And even Chris Brown and Beyonce and like some of these artists, especially ones they have to dance and sing.

It's like like the level of time you have.

To put in in the studio, in the dance studio, working on the coreera for getting every little thing right, and a lot of that they did before they were famous. They were like they were like developing that muscle before they were famous, and that's why they're still here. Like, that's why Usher did the Super Bowl, you know, over twenty years after he debuted, because he made himself sustainable by putting in the work.

Of preparation and the reps that he needed to put in. And you got to do it.

And if you don't, if you're not prepared when you have that TikTok hit or that viral sensation, then it could be fleeting and not sustainable disposable.

Yeah, exactly how was it speaking about the Super Bowl when you got that phone call in twenty fifteen to perform at the Super Bowl out?

That was dope. Man. I was at the Detroit one.

I forget which one that was, but I did want Roger Goodell'll call you.

Roger did not call you.

They always call my agent, you know. I never't talked to anybody. It's like they get to my agent eventually, and they get to me eventually.

Get all right, So where you at somebody and they call you and they say they want you to perform for Super Bowl.

I don't remember, Honestly, I don't really remember that. Like it's so dope, you don't know, But I never like headline.

Like the halftime at the super Bowl. I liked it like a pre I did God Bless America one year and then I did a pre performance on that. So I've never had like the the that prime big for us, sir down it was it Usher or you know, Kendrick or whatever. You know, it's not that that halftime spot.

Okay, So let me ask you they call you next year, twenty twenty six, John Legend headline.

You know, I honestly, I don't think it's great for artists that are more like if like most of my hits are ballads. So it's like, I feel like it's better if you got a lot of up tempo hits for the super Bowl.

It just feels more right. You got that. I got a little little little something. Yeah, yeah, you will do it. I can see you halftime show. It could be done, all right. So if super Bowl calls you twenty six, what is your your playlist? My set list?

You know, I'll mix it up, do some up tempos, some slows, so we'll do green light, we'll do ordinated people, We'll do all of.

Me probably like love me now, you know, I don't know. I have to think about it.

Some features, like some of the you bring along as I've guessed it on like Grammar Family, bring it up some Yeah, we'll figure it out.

I don't know.

Yeah, we'll definite had some collapse. It's just on the top of one artist. Will you Did you bring up.

A snooper? Rick?

Yeah, that'll be good, Rick Ross. We got a bunch of Doubt records together.

Yeah, yeah, yeah do.

I was making playlists of like different collabs, and I made a whole playlist just of me and Rick because it was like ten songs Justice League, right. I think it started with college and then.

No, probably call it because colleg was his exec at Deaf Jam South right earlier. Yes, so, so I don't know what came first, but green Light came out and he did like a remix that I heard and I didn't even know him yet.

Like a mixtape joint, Yeah, mixtape joint of green Light where he was rhyming on him.

And then not long after that he reached out to us about Magnificent, But I think it was through Collin.

You know, what's one of your favorite places to perform? Uh, South Africa? Love it? I love Johannesberger.

Yeah, crazy crowds there, Soul South Korea. Crazy crowds in Korea. Yeah, I love like London and Amsterdam a lot. In the US, I love DC area, Atlanta area, Miami's cool. It's like i'd say, my best audiences are a no, no, no, I'm not I'm not sure.

I'm just being honest.

My best audience is a DC area, Atlanta area, in Chicago area, I would say so, and the Bay Area in the Bank think a lot.

You describe the blackest cities, yeah, the world? Yeah, you know, let's make some noise. Yea.

So my my wife, my wife, she's here, she's Latina. Right, do you get like any type of thing for your wife not being a black woman?

Not really, But you know, I think when we first started dating we probably got some. But we've been together for so long. Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, of course that. Yeah, we've been together since six.

So what do they call that? Interracial data?

Yeah, we're in the racial So my wife is half Asian and half white and then I'm black, So interracial.

Yeah, inter racial. Do we make a noise? Let's take it block kids in confused? Now, this motherfucker were all type of racist? Are we're human? Is your wife like light skin? Latine my head. Yeah, so your kids will be like in between, we got kids.

My kids are actually the exact same color as me, but they just got you know, less kinky hair down.

Now got there's a little more waving. Okay, no wave, Grace, no, no way, grace no no King of the Moon girl girl, what place have you performed.

As country wise that you were? You just were like, this is wild that I'm even here in this country, that they that I have fans here.

Well, the first time I went to South Africa, it was right at the beginning of my career, and you don't really know how you're going to do internationally when at the beginning and I went there and I was like, I couldn't believe how much love I had there and everybody knew every song.

That was amazing.

But then going to Asia, going to places where they don't speak English, non English speaking, Yeah, so you go to Japan, and you go to Italy, you go to Spain, you know, all these different places where people don't even speak the language that you're singing in and then they sing the songs back to you. It feels pretty much. Yeah, I was just there last year and how.

Was that was?

Dover.

Yeah, I was into it. We had a good time. I'll probably go back. And you got engaged in where in the Maldives and then you got married at lake Como in Italy.

That's my place. I love. You've been to Maldives soon? Of course? Oh yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir. I ain't gonna lie.

Me and my wife turned up just us, yeah, because god, we didn't go.

And you went with other people.

Well, when we got engaged, it was just the two of us. We didn't have kids or anything. So we in the Maldives. Yeah, and so that was twenty eleven.

Uh. And then we had already been to Lake.

Como as a couple just dating, and it's like the most beautiful romantic place.

You could go. You feel like you're in heaven. And then the little boats. Yeah, we're in a little boats, you know, going on dates on a boat. You know, it's like life is good. That's my staff. I always say.

We fell in love at lake Como, and so we decided we would get married there, and so we got married there in twenty thirteen, and we shot the All of Me video there too, So if you look at the video, double dipped yeah, so the whole So it was like I got to expend some of the trip. But the craziest thing about the video is it was directed.

By this guy named Nobille Elderkin.

And he's the guy that is the reason why Christian and I met because he was the director of the very first video where we met, and Christian and I started dating after we met on the video set, and so this guy is responsible for us meeting and he ended up directing the video for all of.

Me, you know, seven years later. And did he directed the proposal? No, we didn't shoot that. We didn't shoot that.

That was just that was just us. That was just us. I mean it's a very famous yea, a very famous guy. So how was your proposal? What did you do? So? You you're a very smooth guy. I want to compare you. I was.

It was like a few months I decided I was going to do it, and I decided I was going to do it on this trip, and I started getting the ring together and everything, and I have this little package trying to disguise the ring in my bag in case she like saw it in my bag. And so I had this nondescript just envelope with the ring package in there, and so I'm just trying to make sure she don't see it so I can actually propose in the moment, you know where I want to do it.

But before we flowed to the Dubai, spent a day at Duba and then to Malee.

But back then you had to go somewhere Dubai, then to Sri Lanka and then it's horrible times. But nowadays you can go straight to Malee from the Bye.

So that's what we do now.

Anyway, we're going through the airport and they're rifling.

Through my bag. I'm like, y'all better not open this fucking ring man. Wait wait customs.

Yeah, you know the people can't say basically wipeople right there.

Yeah, but this cer over in they about to blow you up. Yeah. So they're going through, going through, going through, and they were just about.

To open that envelope. But God must have spoke to him.

And said not now, son, right right right, right, right right right, because he didn't open up the envelope.

And I got to propose on the beach in the Maldives. So it was for like Christmas Eve dinner on the beach in the Maldives.

One two three. We're about to have dessert.

And I tell the you know, a way to bring out the ring with dessert, and he brings it out in a little tray and then she sees it starts crying and she said, yes, that's similar to my proposal.

But you just did it in about these no, no, no, let me about you old so okay, all these she says yes. She says yes obviously, and then we go.

Then we go over to Thailand because her mom and dad were living in Thailand at the time.

Her mom's tie and uh. And then we show them the ring. Uh when we land at the airport and they're like ah. And her mom didn't really get it. She was like, Okay, that's a nice ring. It's pretty was the first.

I doubt it. She lived in Bangkok, you know, it's kind of Bangkok. Him the bank, the bankok, and they lived Yeah. And then and they lived in America. Yeah. So Christy was Christy was born in the Internet.

You know.

Christy was about Christie was born in America and her dad was born and raised in America and he met her mom.

Her mom over there, but.

Then they lived in America for a long time, but then they moved back to Thailand, and that's when I met them, when they had moved back to Thailand.

Yeah, you like Thailand. Yeah, it's beautiful, beautiful back then, I don't think I think they stopped I think they stopped it. I think that's legal. Yeah, I think it was. If you do some crazy.

Singapore, Singapore, Singapore America, Singapore.

Singapore is really strict.

Yeah, Singapore is like you can't shoot gum and yeah, it's very clean.

It's very clean. Well, Singapore is beautiful, but it's it's definitely strict.

I went to Singapore one time, and this is the time where the whole economy was tobacco, and I had two carts a new Ports.

I used to smoke, and they pulled me over like I had like you got buy her, you got buy it? Yeah, yeah, they this is how crazy it was.

They made me throw out the cigarettes and then they made me buy their cigarettes in customs and I bought it, like I I definitely did it. You got to buy a little what's your favorite country. The performer, well, South Africa, Korea said, I love playing in Amsterdam and London, and yeah, those are my favorites.

I have a couple of times.

It was before it got crazy experience. Yeah, it was before it got crazy lately, like.

With the war and everything. But uh, I was there. It was like for a birthday.

It was like a private birthday party or something and some you know them guys with the big money, they want somebody to come and sing their birthday party.

It was in Moscow. Yeah, at like a theater. It's beautiful, beautiful cities. Yeah, she's the Louis Properties. I've been just about everywhere. There's a very few places I have been. But yeah, you performed a kow not kouw.

But I played Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, a bunch of Middle Eastern places. Yeah. Yeah, Morocco, like I just take a shot. But for him performing every yes, worldwide, shots are gone. Here we go yeah shot yeah, yeah, because we like if we don't want you, we don't want to. Yeah, we want you to catch a flight you know. Yeah yeous.

So anything in your whole career, right, yeah, beautiful lovely career, beautiful wife, beautiful children, beautiful everything.

Apparently, never have a bad day, according to listen, being honest.

I'm spreading the rumor you leave here. It might it might read John Legend never has a bad joy. It might just read that I just mean. But by the way, this is one of my friends, right, this is this is my friend Sonny d b T. He's never had a bad day.

I hate him. I love that for you in a good way.

He never had a bad day, and Haiti is the source of everything.

In a good way, like in a good way, like he like.

If ever I'm having a bad day, I call him and he'll be He'll he'll simply say some foul ship, like shut the fuck up, let's go outside on this and we'll have a great day. Yes, I cherished people like that. Yeah, is that who you are? Can I call you on a bad day and you'd be like, shut up?

Nigga trying to find him bright side, trying to find the right side for you, man, trying to find find the right side for you. He wants you to start a hot line. I got to be his friend, John Legend, never have a bad day, never have a bad day.

Back in the when they first started doing the voice activated assistant for Google.

They made me the voice of it.

So really I had to literally go to the studio and just record myself saying all kinds.

Of words Jillian things, excuse me, check though. Yeah. It was a good check but it was a lot of work.

It was like literally ten days in the studio of like six to eight hour days.

Of just reading things. Does that still exists now?

It was like a one year promotion, so you could if you have one of those Google Home things, you would have my voice on it for a year and then you was like Siri.

Yeah, I was like Siri for Google, I would buy all Have you done more things like that in the tech space, I've done a lot of stuff. Yeah.

Well we worked with them on their AI project too, Google's too. So one thing that I'm curious about in the R and B space in terms of related to hip hop space. Yeah, so, you know, in the hip hop space generationally, we're looking at the differences in the sound.

Uh huh. Do you see that in the R and B space as well?

But I think a lot of R and B artists still like hold on to some of the classic sounds, but they're always like. But the thing is R and B and hip hop are so close, Like we work with a lot of the same producers, and so a lot of things that are happening in hip hop, we're doing it as well. But there's still a lot of R and B artists. I think that like the classic sounds too.

Do you ever feel like you are hip hop just by the nature of how you came up?

I feel I'm so connected to hip hop. I feel like I've made so many hip hop records. I literally was going through because we're doing some promotions for my anniversary of Get Lifted, and I was going through all the hip hop collapse I have and making a playlist and it's massive, Like the list, it's crazy.

So yeah, hip hop is so core to my.

Career and my musical identity and everything.

So it's John Legend rapped.

I have go back and list listen to a record with Consequence. He wrote the rapskay and.

He like produced my session, but I did rap with him.

On the song.

Did you enjoy that experience? I did. I feel like I'd be better at it now, like I just have more understanding of whatever.

So you've not and I've been writing raps actually for a Broadway show.

Really yeah, writing raps? Yeah, he rhymed. Well, he's talking.

About how hip hop is so important to my career, and I was talking about how many times I've been on hip hop records the whole life, my whole career.

But he was like, have you ever rapped?

And I said, I did one record with Consequence where he wrote the.

Raps and I did him.

But I've actually been writing raps for Broadway for a show.

I'm writing.

Oh, that's fine. What's your relationship with Consequence? He hit me, like a couple of weeks ago. I love Yeah, Like I don't. I don't talk to him a lot, but all love. We were like in the early day, he's a tour and we were roommates.

Like uh so, so he'd have uh you know when you when you have a broke artist and you just on tour support, like everybody got double up, so you sleep in the double rooms.

He's in one bed, I'm in the other. So Console was my roommate. Who was these other people that's on the tour? Consequence you GLC, don c.

Yay, Monopoly monop would come out a lot really really.

Dough doing tour buses or not. We were on tour buses. Those are rigorous. Yeah, those tour buses are. I like tour buses.

Man, Well I get the start bus now, yeah, I get to stop goodse I got the bed, I got the actual everybody else is.

In bunks and then you're in a nice bed. Yeah.

But I don't mind it because as a singer, you don't love being up and down in the uh because the air yeah mess with your vocal.

You just get dry and going up and down all the time for shows, and so it's easier for just to be.

On the bus. You know why I love good music. I'ma be honest with you.

I came up in an arrow where we had to be gangster, right, and we had to keep up that gangster. If you not gangster for one week, there's someone who will come and try to take that slot that same week.

Just you're just trying to chill.

I got introduced to a person named for Real. His first lines he ever said to me was I don't have a gangster bone in my body. At the time, I could have been like this egotistic maniac and been like what because he had on a medium shirt. I had on a five acts right, So this is the time of Fox, right, No, I know, and I chose to believe in that movement. Yeah, I chose to believe. I was like, fuck that you don't have to be. But if Pharrell knew how to make gangster beats for y'all,

Yeah.

And most people aren't gangsters, you know.

And so and you know the thing about us being attracted to artists that describe that life, It is attractive because it's just like you want to watch Scarface or you want to watch.

Like you want to watch Against the movie.

And so there's something appealing about that even if you haven't lived that life, like you're fascinated by that life. And so I see why people love gangst the rap. But it also helped Kanye stand out when he was like we're in the polos and talking about dropping out of college. When he was on the same label with guys rapping about Dylan Coke, it was like it made him stand out, you know, And I'm giving it to

Have to be gast it was I was singing, but you were singing. That was the outfit.

But I didn't have to be gangster though, But as a rapper, that was a bold thing to do to like not to be the only non I was very.

Gangster, Yeah, Kanye, to be that way, it's bold, it's authentic. Yeah yeah, And now we have a whole genre of that music. But then we have a whole genre of dead music. Jesus Christmas.

These people rhyme about killing people, and it's crazy because I'm un quote against the wrapping and I listen to this ship like, oh.

No, but you're saying it wrong because you guys, you guys are rhyming about killing people in a way, the kids are literally rhyming about killing people for.

Real, like you talking about like, yeah, we don't about drill is mostly in New York, right, it's all over it. Yeah, you know, I'm saying, where did that start?

Chicago's gets Chicago gets yeah, gets gets.

Scort starts, I think really and London.

Yeah, London, like there's there's city, Like New York has its own version that's.

Drill and then yeah London, Like I'm so gree Like one day I was just like I hit some really talk about it.

That's drill. I mean, but I think that's that was for New York. But I even think it's changed so much from them.

It's gotten so much, like where they really like because they're using souli media with the music to really like this is what I'm really doing, but they're like outing themselves.

It's just wild.

It's it's what what do you think about the whole movement to not hold like a record against the person, Like like how with the uh in the case you can't like quote the lyrics it blurs the lines.

Complicated.

Yeah, it's really complicated, man, Like I really think that that art should be separated, yeah, from the judicial system in.

That sense, Yeah, you could should be just can't be charged. I agree. Like, also, like what the fuck I believe? I believe you shouldn't. You shouldn't be able to hold someone's song against them.

You got to have real evidence that they did something, not just that they rapped about something hard.

That Nigga killed nineteen for sure, exactly sure, so he really didn't that's the problem. But Rus, that is not that.

But the point is, it's not enough proof to say someone made art about killing somebody.

You have to be able to prove they actually did it, absolutely absolutely.

Because I remember you being against the stopping chriss, Yeah, he was fully against the stopping.

Now I'm generally like trying to find ways to make everything more just for us, you know, And so I don't like the idea of them holding songs against us. I don't like the idea of stopping frisk. I don't like the idea of illegal searches in general. And I'm just always going to be on the side of standing up for us and not locking a.

Bunch of us up. That's why are we running for president twenty twenty? Excellent? But I don't know what God does.

How long you live down here, mem I'm going on like seventeen years.

Yeah, you never going back? You said, I don't want no more snow. No, I don't want to sound.

You like the snows. I'm good with it.

No, it's filming the fuck Korean Kareem is here, that's what jamake.

He don't stop working. Yes, yeah, you got eight jobs, but you do. I don't like the cold.

I'm sorry, Like that is that different people from I'm Puerto Rican, but they're black? Okay, yeah, so yeah, I don't. I don't think any side of my side wants to reside wants to the cold, Like like why, like how I put it in my whole time in New York. Then I moved to New Jersey. I did all the like walking with my tams in the snow, and now like Louis Tims.

So it's like a little different. You don't want him to get up, Like why can't I just be like who I am now? Like funk that I deserve the right to where Louis tim. That's right, I deserve the right. God damn it. And you said you're working before. What are y'all doing? We just started working on the album. We never a whole album.

We never done like a whole big thing together. He just did a couple of songs with me years ago. And he just called me up in De Simmer. It was like, uh, I really am inspired. Like I've been thinking about your music and my vision for it. I feel like we should just get in and see what happens. Wait, he hit you out the blue saying this out the blue.

That's that's type of it makes sense, makes sense.

You know.

He's so creative and he gets inspired and and so I've been over to Paris to work with them, and we're gonna do it again in March.

Mm hmm, So we'll see what happens.

That's your next album, yeah, I mean well, yeah to the people that your next album is fully produced Buffalo. I'm not gonna say fully produced, yeah, I'm just gonna say executive produce.

Yeah. I'm saying we're getting in and he's gonna ep the record. So that's exact. H What is something that you did back then you wish you could have did right now? Like back then.

I'll give you an example example. My friend of mine is named Tata. I have this number one record. It's called Equal Man. I'm I'm Latino, I'm all over thet.

Comes all over the place.

Tata comes to me and says, I want a girl to do a remix to this record. This is Jay, absolutely yes, and he says, I want to go to do a remix to this record, and I got to just listen to me.

Somewhat. I don't want to say I said no. I didn't say no. But when they asked me the payment, it was like it's fifteen grand and I was like, Oh, this woman wind up being Rihanna. Oh make this mistake of my whole correct I don't have one like that that. They don't have one. I don't no, I don't have one.

That was like, John, we want you to feature with this of that artists, and then they went on to blow up when I said no, I haven't done that honestly.

So if you've never said no to somebody that I'm trying to think of something. I can't think of anything. That means you say yes to everybody. No. It means what I say no to I don't regret.

You know, I said yes a lot, because you know, I got a lot of collapse out there.

But I definitely said no to something. But it didn't come back to bite me, honestly, because not for nothing Sonny did. He's got a record.

I'll tell you a funny story had Nas on here? Yeah, it was my brother and Nas.

So I said to Nas, I said, because I feel like the same way I feel about you, that.

You have a bad day in your life.

I feel like Nas, no one would tell Nas no, Like I've been to the club with Nas and all these gangsters.

Everybody knows and they see Naves to go. He's royalty. I love royalty. But I asked now, I said, Yo, anybody ever told you no?

And now I was like maybe no. And then I was like, nah, nah, someone told you no. And then he said Prince, Okay, there you go. And then I said, why did Prince tell you?

Know? You know what Prince told Nas? No? He said, do you own your masters? Yeah?

And now I said, I told him I don't own my masters. He said, well, get back with me when you do own your masters.

Yeah. So now just part to that too, where he said I don't want to put them through colleges on like put your kids through college.

I don't want to put the ekids college.

Yeah. I want to ask you this question again. Has it any ever been anybody in front of them on you.

Front of them and like said no to me? Oh yeah, there's been a artists that passed on. Like I'll reach out and ask for somebody to feature on the record and they'll pass, and they'll pass for different reasons. Like sometimes I think with rap, especially if you want an MC to get on a record, they really have to hear that be and feel in spite of the right Yeah, hit themselves on it. And sometimes they don't, and and it's fine, give me a sample. I don't take it personally,

You could even play. They were like, the guy that I go through is a good friend of both.

Of ours, and he was like, if you have to play flute, he might have done it, but.

You should.

Because it was a beautiful way. It was for the remix. It was for the remixes. It was the one remix on the remix.

It was one of the remixes that we did it for the Get Lifted.

Adrey rapping more bro and he was like, if you have them to play flute, he might say yes, but you know, Andre be on what he's on at that time, and if he ain't on, good shot.

And saying no, because we should have we should have dot it. I don't be mad at it.

I'm like, Okay, you're not in the right place to do it, you know, but you got a record with Andre, but also Limpsey battle you I did Andre's record, yes, but yes, we did green Light together.

That was our you know single we did together. We did the video.

He really helped come up with the concept for the video too, and uh.

It was incredible working with him for that. And then uh, when Christy was co hosting lip Sync Battle with l l Uh, I came on and did hey, y'all do with a full wig and everything? It was something lip sync was a time.

Yes, goddamn it, who's your favorite? Wrapper alls on Jay? Yeah, I say Jay?

And then uh, I feel like Kendrick is almost there now. Like it's like I was talking to Charlemagne like probably two years ago.

And we were still like, are we putting him in the top five already? Because he's younger than everybody else? Yep, he was.

Well, we were discussing it.

We were discussing it because he was younger than everybody else that normally you would put in there.

And I was like, at this point, you got to put him there prolific.

Yeah.

Two years ago he was wait, yeah, and I was like, at this point, you already got.

To put him there because and he never lets you down because all the records are dope, the singles are dope, and the videos are dope.

Different. Yeah, the videos are crazy. His shows are crazy. Like, you got to put him right up there. Who's your favorite R and B singer?

Stevie Steve, Steve seeing Stevie or no, Steven Steve, He's always He's always.

Your favorite jazz.

I'm not super into jazz. Truthfully, you look you look like a jazz player. I'm gonna be honest, and didn't look like on the flu. I'm not like deep into it.

I'm more like, you know, I know some Miles Davis records from John Coltrane, some like you know, like the older singers like uh, you know Louis and Ella and uh, I listen to some of that, but I'm not like deeply into jazz zz.

Damn.

Who's your favorite jazz artists? Louis Armstrong, Yes, right, you know the man?

And I like to singing boy. I like to singing well. I like the ratty singing boys too, like he was dope.

Who's your favorite reggae artist Boo Nice Month, whom.

I've done a couple of records of Boo I love, I said.

Reggae dance? Who's your favorite dance hall? Okay, so bo dance hall? Yes, all right, we're being more specific. Yes, just go back to Rake. Reggae Bob Marley, you made records with I have a couple of records of the first one we did together was on my Evolver albums called Can't Be My Lover and.

Yeah, and then I've been on a couple of his projects. He's the weast Papa Cheese. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Reggae doesn't take or world Jamaican Today.

M hm. Who's your favorite reggae throne artists? Regged throne? Have you dabbled in that? No? Do we count Bad Bunny? Is he regu? I think so. I think I'm not very well versed, so I'm not. I mean, yeah, you don't count what's your favorite reg I love Bad Bunny, but I don't know very well honest And he got conscious. Yeah, he got like he stands up for Puerto Rico because listen, I ain't gonna lie to you. He said, it might be a porter going up for the weekends.

He stands up for Puerto Rico. Like, he's very political and his music is crazy damn.

So you will collab with bad Bunny? Absolutely love to Would that be your go to feature? Uh life? I had a record artist? Yeah, I mean Latin America. And for the time, I've worked with like singers in Latin America.

So I worked with like one Is and uh Sebastian and uh like you got the Noel from.

Uh who else? I haven't done a record with would and uh Yeah, I've worked with a few Latin.

Artists over the years, but singers, I have really done your record good?

Now his his is where we gotta go? Who's your favorite dancehall artists? We kind we said, oka reggae artists. I'm saying he's going to happen. He's going through, he said, sucking up. Who's your favorite car? Who's your favorite DJ? How about that DJ? If you're getting married, Maldi's who?

Well, you know, we played my last big party jig Capri. I went back, absolutely, I went back, you know, and he.

It was amazing, honestly, and biz MARKI played our wedding. Well that was so vapis he played a vabis No he DJ bro DJ. Sure, he did a couple of it. He usually with DJ song and performing a little bit a couple, just.

A couple, but mainly he's just playing records and uh and.

Just the party was going the whole night. So that was twenty thirteen and.

Then we and then we did our tenth anniversary in twenty twenty three and Bis Markey was no longer with us, but k Capri came and kickza want that party ever?

Do it?

Crazy? You anymore?

Jonnres And I'll tell you why I wanted him, because I had been talking about this college party I went to when I was in school. This is in like ninety six, and I was like, I've never seen a party like so turned for so long, Like he just had the party on eleven the whole night and it was.

Ca Capri and I was like my brother. I was like, let's get him back. And so that was I sat to him, no more, Genres, no, no, who's your favorite whistler?

We're gonna keep it. Oh, this's writing.

Because you have one of the best beautiful family stories, right, But you know it started out it's.

Like real fighting there was there was fighting in there. Where is this going out? Because you picked out a model. It was like, I like her, had to come to the yea. So she she was in the video with me. And then that's how we met. Yeah, and the is history. See a lot of people listen, a lot of people want to build up Oh I don't you ask. It started out with the b what you said, Yeah, I'm going to build up mom his wife. First day they kicked it off, and they kicked off.

He said, if you hear me, yeah right, And now y'all eighteen years we met eighteen years ago ago.

We got four kids. Four kids, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Four kids, the oldest ones eight and the youngest ones one and a half. Wow.

So director came to you and showed you a picture.

Yeah, you said I'm in I was all right, what And then we just had good chemistry and had a show later that night, and then we hung out after that and we've been hanging out ever since.

God damn understatement.

And you became a great father listen some years later. Yo, man, I just want to be honest with you.

Man.

I really really respect your legacy. I really respect what you're doing. I really respect how you represent for black people. Every time there's a there's a there's a moment. I know that John Legend is going to be there. I know that you you'll be there in the forest fires. I know that you'll be there during COVID. I know that you'll be there.

And that ship is just like a beautiful thing to me. Thank you.

You know what I'm saying, Like, because I want to watch, but I don't maybe not be there, like, but I want to watch still, like I want to be like, oh ship, that ship is nice and you.

Be holding it down don Lemon style. Okay, new one. Okay, So what are we talking about? I don't know. I'm a reporter now, So so what hold on? Going back to the fires?

Is there anything before you get out of here that any true things that people could donate to that are actually impacting and helping.

Well, there's a bunch of charities that are doing great work.

We always work with Baby the Baby a lot, and because they help parents that have kids and need supplies for their kids. A lot of people got displaced to have kids, so Baby to Baby is great. Of course the Red Cross is helping. Yeah, those are a couple that we've donated to and helped out. But I would say, baby the Baby, that one's close to our heart and we've raised money for them a lot over the years.

Any any artists that you know that personally have been impacted are artists you don't like in the hip hop world. Mad Lib he lost Yes, I saw.

That concerts and Ico she lost her place. And then.

The guys we sang with on the opening of the Grammys that was a band, uh, a rock band, indie band called DAWs and they grew up in that area in Altadena and they lost everything. Their parents lost their home in the studio and the instruments, everything, So a lot of people lost a lot. It's crazy because when you go to La unless you're in those areas, you don't even see it because everything else looks completely normal.

But when you go to those areas, they look like a war zone. They're like, I don't, we don't see that.

Yeah, it's like a war zone in those specific areas, and then everywhere else looks normal.

It's crazy though, it's surreal. Yeah. Well so, I mean, all right, this this is one meme percent all me. That's gonna be impactful.

Of course, because you were really Trump's nemesis, right, let's suppost didn't work this Trump says, I want to meet with John in the middle of Central Park. Why because let me be in New York.

Why you hating?

Honestly, I would meet with him with no cameras and no like this is like I would. I would meet just like on some could I influence him because I feel like he's very easy, Like I think people people getting his ear, I feel like.

They can convince him of things, and so I.

Would deal with no cameras and just try to use whatever influence I had.

But I doubt it would be useful, but it would be worth a shot. Why not? But let me ask you, I'm gonna keep it real. Are you gonna have jokes?

You gotta have jokes, you gotta call him arms Asian arm. You're gonna do something to bring yourself up.

I'd be like, I'm not boring as singer with the Filthy Mountain.

I don't know, but honestly, I believe like anybody can be talked to, and you don't need to do it for like a photo op.

Do it like actually trying to accomplish something, and he knows.

And everybody should be talked to, like, if he's in a position, especially if they're in power, you should talk to them.

But you would meet it. I mean, it's not on the table, But yes, I think it's plausible. I think so. Yeah.

I think I just think he needs someone in his ear telling him something other than what Elon and all these other guys are telling him.

So if that needs to be.

Me, fine, Okay, So let's let's talk about for a second. Why did you change your name from John Stevens to John So the.

First person to call me John Legend was a guy named Jay Ivy, and he just started calling me the Legend. Jay Ivy's a spoken word ARTI. If you listen back to Never Let Me Down on the College Dropout, he's doing the.

Spoken word piece on it. He's from Chicago, and I met him when we were working on the College Dropout album and he just heard everything I was doing in the studio.

I was singing on.

Everything, playing on everything, and you just started calling me the legend. And our whole crew just started calling me John Legend.

Not long after that, and I had to decide whether or not I would actually use it as a stage name or just you know, just a nickname among our friends, and.

I decided I will use it. I was like, fuck it.

You know, this is like, this is announcing my presence. I'm gonna say I'm John Legend.

And what was ever a thought of the of it sounding like John Lennon. It started to come up later. It's funny.

Some people was like, hey, it's John Lennon, which is kind of dope. Yeah, it's fine. And then some of John Lennon's fans call him John Legend. I learned that later. Yeah, but I didn't know that before. But I had to check on their trademark and trademark that could infringe.

I had to check on it.

So we found out that once I got signed a mass Sony and all the lawyers, you know they're about to get my album ready and make sure the clearances are right, they're like, we need to make sure we trademark John Legend as your stage name. So they go out and look for other John Legends. And it wasn't an issue with the John Lennon, uh, you know, leg Estate. But there's this porn producer named Johnny Legend.

Legends. So there's a porn producer, but he also made music.

So because he made music. Yeah, we had to clear it with him for me to use the name. And so we found him and my manager was like trying to be chill about it. He didn't want to make it seem like this big new artist on this Yeah. He wanted to seem like we were just some poor kid from Ohio. And so he was like, yeah, I have this artist and he goes by John Legend, and we don't want any trouble, just want to negotiate a mutually non exclusive deal with the guy owned the name Legend.

And I had one at the store, he could be like, yo, confusing, Yeah, there could be a suit. Yeah, that's confusing. So we had to find him and he agreed.

We gave him I think ten thousand dollars, which I think was a very affordable bargain.

Yeah for him, it's probably good. Yeah, and he was like yeah, so he signed the deal.

He was Johnny Legend, I'm John Legend, and he went sue me and I wouldn't sue him. So you kind of popping in the porn world too, Yeah, you know you made it. You know you made it when fake dudes are you, you know, use your name. So my friend sent me. I don't know how you found it.

You found this as a poor star that goes.

By John the Legend and it's like a light stined dude with a beard like trying to look like, yes, you know you made it when you.

Got a poor knockoff star and he's cocking and saying ordinary.

John Lezard, Man, I really appreciate you man for coming out and just hanging with us.

Yeah, man, because this is what I've been looking forward to it. Yeah, yeah, we were scared. Well you know what happened.

You know last time my friend was on the show and it wasn't great, But I figured I should come on at some point.

Yes, and uh, either have our own conversations. This is the first, not the last.

Yeah, if you want to promote pink socks, I'm in pink socks.

We got the pink rose though from l v E.

Yeah yeah, l l v E because just Love Love Love Love LB stands for Legend Vineyard Exclusive.

There it is there, it is say it again. Legend Vineyard Exclusive, Legend Vineyard l v SO short for love too. That's right, that's what Noy is calling. I love love. Yeah, I love love you, love love. I love love you, love love you. I love being married. I love love. I'm happily married, happily happy to be a dad. Love it all. It's good. Why why don't people praise that? Like from friend Swiss called me earlier great dad. Loves being great dad, and I love yeah.

At lasta keys, Wow, we don't like focused on bigging that part of hip hop.

I love it. You know, we don't. I think we're starting to, don't know. I think we're maturing more. Let me tell you something.

Swiss and at Leasta being at the Grammys was great, right, But if Swiss would have been with another bitch at the Grammys, thatsh it would have been top line whatever.

But him's being a lawyer.

But if it's God, yeah, if you're married consistently, why would that be anything.

It's not news, it's not news. But I think we celebrate. You know, we said we should, we said, we said, we said, picked that up. Like the thing about it, like, I'm looking at Jay and his wife Beyonce. Yeah, I mean that's my friend, so I'm.

Looking at him.

But I'm saying, why are we not bigging that up more? I think they're celebrated as a couple. Yeah, I'm not looking at you and your wife. Now, why do we not bigging it up more?

I think they're celebrated. I feel like not in pop culture. Well, the thing is, people like news and they like controversy. So people were excited when they saw Jay and Solange and the Elevator because it was controversy.

You know what I'm saying too, And so I feel like, so I really.

Think like it's not exciting when it's just bliss and it's love.

And so people get more excited for the controversy side.

And the flip is it shouldn't be extraordinary for a couple to be together a long time.

That should not be an extraordinary thing.

And the thing is with artists, especially with hip hop, like a lot of our biggest stars currently, like in the moment, are young, and they're not in that phase of life, right, They're not like they're in the datings. Yeah, they're they're in a bachelor phase of their life.

Bachelor.

Yeah.

But then but then by by the time their legend status like Jay, then they should and have kids.

Yeah, Yeah, but this because in our community, the just promoted so much of you not having a fault. Now you've got John Legend with his beautiful wife, you got Jay with his beautiful wife, you got Swiss Beats with his beautiful Why are we not saying yo, black man, black all, all Latino man.

Whatever. Let's let's just let's focus on that part. Yeah, you know what's on that.

You know, one of the myths about us is that we aren't as present as fathers. We're actually more present as fathers. The statistics statistics are that we are Actually we spend more time with our kids than white fathers do. We're more present, and so and so, like that's never told. That story is really never told. There is not told enough. But that's right. Like Black fatherhood is wonderful and we are really good fathers.

And we know that means to be present for our kids.

And even if you're not married read to the mother of your child, you can still be a great father.

And and so I see that example all the time. Like I have people, I have.

Friends in my life who are really great fathers that may not be married to the mother the child, but they still make sure they're there for everything. Yeah, Like, and I was raised around great fathers. My dad's a great one. He was a single dad for us for a while. My uncles all of them like really great fathers. So I'm just I'm like, that's my example. It's like

Got to celebrate it. Yeah, take a shot for the black fathers.

Here. We got black father. Yes, he has a.

Let's take a shot to fatherhood, fathershood.

I might seem like a priest though, isn't it, John Legend? What is? What do you see yourself trying to accomplish?

Now?

With all the things you've accomplished.

Well, there's a couple of things I'm doing that are new. I told you before I'm writing for Broadway.

That's the first time I've ever done that, and neither of the shows out even though you got the Tony already, I was producing, but I didn't write. I'm writing music for musical two musicals, so that these two shows are the first time I've ever done that. And then then I'm always just trying to tap myself as an artist, like next album needs to be better than the last album, Like every time, that's my goal.

So that'll be my goal with this next album.

What about acting, it's not a goal honestly if it works out and it's the right thing at the right time. But honestly, like you're kind of like starting from the bottom as an actor because you're like, because I get what, I get to go sing somewhere and I sing for an hour, you know, Oh, do.

You feel like it's starting over?

Yeah, I'm not going to get that for being in a film and it's going to take six weeks of my time.

It does, and it's like is that worth it? Most of the time it's not.

I feel like Common is the positive blueprint, Yeah, because.

If you build long enough, then it can be worth it. But you got to be able to put that time in because Common has been building that acting career for a long time. You can't just PLoP in and be like I want, you know, ten million to show up for this film, right Like, you just can't do it.

And so it's like, do I want to put in all that time to build up my price in there when I've already built up my price as a singer.

I rather just can't make money. Yeah, and I love making.

Music, right, But okay, so I know we joked about the political realm.

Do you really ever see yourself? I don't, and people do advocate.

Yeah, absolutely, and I will continue to And people ask me all the time if I ever want to run for office, and I.

Still don't believe I ever will, and I don't believe i'll.

Ever want to. If I change my mind, and then I'll change my mind, but I don't. I don't think I will.

I don't think he will either. Nor are you gonna run, profess No, I'm running for offers you. I'm gonna be honest with you. If you run for office, I'll be like you know, the guys with the.

Helmets security January sixth, niggah, my Hitchman, BECAUSEA be honest.

I don't be.

No, you will mind me of a rock in the most beautifulest way it is. And I spoke to Killer Mike.

Yeah. I love killing Mike, right, I love Mike. Kill him Mike man. But I feel like Killer Mike should be mayor of Atlanta. He could do it. I feel like he might run. I feel like he should do it.

I feel like he should do it unapologetically. I feel like he shoul to do it eating peanuts like me.

What up in his real self? Yeah?

Yeah, well he cares a lot about lances and put it that way. I don't know if he every wants to run for office, but he's I feel like he's great at knowing what the people want in his city, and he loves his city. He advocates for his city, advocates for.

Our community, like having our own businesses and own property or on wealth. And uh, he's a great man.

But you you never thought about running for president when I was a kid. I didn't since I've been in an adult I love my life.

I love what I get to do now, and I don't think I would enjoy being president. Wow, I just don't think I would. You know what, Actually, we got to shut out his papa, Keith is running for office, right commissioner shout out to from out here. Yeah, he's a radio personality. He's been influential out here in the community and now he's.

I respect anybody that puts himself out there. My friend Hill Harper, he ran for you don't want to he ran for Senate in Michigan.

I was like, man, it's just stressful. He didn't win the primary, and it's like you put yourself out there, they come at you. Yeah, and it's like into those I'm.

Like, I already put myself out there enough and I get enough ship for it.

And I'm like, I don't want to like actually run, but imagine you and dlugy.

Dl DL's instagram be going. You know you wouldn't one? Why give up? Give up on this lot of questions. I'm just asking because to me, I will one job. I want to go pisical ends to be a fucking president like me. This is me. I guess the personal open you can look at me out I got I believe. I believe in you that much? Did I feel like you can be the president? But why why? Why?

Why can't we have our own community, support our own community.

I appreciate it. I appreciate because you know why use against Trump every every Yeah? So why not have you? Yeah, I take a shot. It ain't even got nothing to do with it. But why why why wouldn't you wouldn't you? Well? We got here, Oh thank you, Sam? Yeah, here we go.

Okay, I'm gonna take something cash. He's in the writer, but why wouldn't you want for possident.

I just feel like it's so much negativity and like where's the positive side?

And there's music. Music is now when you're.

A musician, there's not a whole party organized to bring you down like all the other R and B cats don't have like organized party trying to destroy my career. Like user fans aren't like outside my door with picking signs like fuck John Legend. It might be, but like if you run for office, like there's like literally half the country hates you or they're being told to hate you, and I'm like, I'm not interested in that feeling.

But we interested in your ideology. I get it. I get it. We will leave with John Legend believes I get it. And I appreciate black people to say, you know what, we need you? Yeah, we need you. We want to get behind well.

Crazy, I want to get behind you, Paulsey taking me back two thousand and four but the pause days.

But we need we need somebody in that office that we can identify, would relate to because we can see you don't think that's you.

I hope Wes Moore runs for president. And there's some great people that we can look up to. Let's let's so Wes Moore. He's a governor of Maryland. Brother, very accomplished, veteran, amazing speaker. Okay, beautiful wife. You know he can do it, and I think he's he's already governor of Maryland.

He could do it. So I'll support them. So are we We're putting on money to him. Who knows.

We'll see, we'll see, we'll see if he runs. But he could, and I think he'd do a good job. I'm looking at everybody here. What's his name, Wes Moore, Wes Moore. But if we could pick Wes Moore, we could pick John Legend. That's our next running candidate for the president of the United States. Look at this nigga.

This nigga is Obama's because it Okay, I appreciate it, nor, I really do.

I do.

I appreciate what you're doing. Right now, you get an endorsement, right, love and respect. I did no. No, you know why because I trust you.

The thing about it is, we're voting for the American President. You want to trust him. I want to trust the person. I'm gonna be honest with you me and that you know I'm brown. Trust you all right?

Well, I appreciate it. I pretty much on you. I'm so sorry because you know it's all good. But but why not, because you know why? The one thing that we got to give Trump is he just outrageous. Yeah, you don't give a fuck. So why wouldn't you, Why wouldn't you be up? They be like this man himself holds down. I don't know, I don't know this is president. I don't want to. I want to.

I'm gonna be honest that John John John legends resident.

You gotta be writer. If you John let the president. How many of us is rooting voting for John? I make some No, I'm gonna be honest. I'm just sorry. We believe in you. Curls is right, I feel it. I feel it. The girls he's gonna be secretary of State.

I'm gonna be something else, Like I'm gonna be like what else, drinker of the drink?

Girls stink up.

I don't think think we're gonna make some new position. I'm playing around, But in real reality, I was thought about that. He's not with it because because look at me, look at me.

I'm looking at you. He's look at me, look at me, look at you. I have no beef for Trump. Right, but if I was to put you and Trump in a spelling bee, I'm picking you. Yeah, I would win.

If I'm picking you and Trump against like like, uh of course we're a puzzle. I'm picking you.

Jeopardy Yeah yeah yeah, travel so so so why wouldn't you try to lead off monopoly a little bit? Why would you? I just don't feel like I would enjoy it. Yeah, it's wonderful man, running or being in office. I don't think I would enjoy either. One very just one. Yeah. I'm sorry because I believe mean you so much. I know, I feel it. I feel it, I feel it. He's your campaign, I'm your number one thing. I know, I feel it. I feel if you feel like that next

I'm truly I'm glad I got to come by and see y'all. I've been wanting to do it for a minute.

And I'm glad we got to come and celebrate the twentieth anniversary because I'm just grateful.

And you know, I told you all these stories of like us on the come up, and like I think back on all of that when I listen to that music from Get Lifted, and I'm just grateful for everything to happen. Yeah, good John, thank you so much, thank you. I ain't gonna lie. You're the only nigga that ever ordered beef.

Jerky turkey, turkey, turkey jack turkey. Yeah no, no, don't say that. That's in my that's in my rider too, because you know with turkey. Come on, I don't eat beef. I don't eat you sure that's turkey.

I swear to god, you ain't gonna be able to tell because it smelled the same.

Already, Bro, somebody went to the grocery store in here. They got it. Are you ready? You ate it already? You had a dinner with a shot though, and then we out of here. I appreciate you, y'all. Man, what a pleasure. You gotta let him go. We drink Champs. Drink Champs is a drink Champs LLC.

Production hosts and executive producers n O r E and dj e FN. Listen to Drink Champs on Apple Podcast,