Grammy-winning singer John Legend has opened up about his former collaborator Kanye West, expressing sadness over the rapper’s drastic transformation over the years.
In a recent interview, Legend looked back on their early days working together on his debut album Get Lifted, released in 2004. At the time, Kanye served as executive producer, helping craft a project that would go on to sell over three million copies and earn three Grammy Awards. It was also a period when both artists were on the rise — West’s own debut, The College Dropout, had just solidified his place as one of the most exciting new voices in music.
Legend recalled that version of Kanye with warmth and admiration. “He was passionate, gifted, and full of optimism,” he said. “He had big dreams — not just for himself, but for everyone around him.”
But that hopeful, collaborative spirit is a far cry from the Kanye the world sees today.
“It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now,” Legend admitted.
In recent years, Kanye West has stirred controversy after controversy — from wearing a black Ku Klux Klan-style hood in public, to using Nazi symbols on merchandise, to making inflammatory antisemitic and anti-Black comments that resulted in bans from multiple social media platforms.
“I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now — his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-Blackness — and it is sad to see his devolution,” Legend said.
He also pointed to the death of Kanye’s mother, Donda West, in 2007 as a possible turning point in the artist’s mental and emotional decline. “We’re not psychologists, so we can’t diagnose him,” Legend added, “but something clearly changed after she passed. His descent began then, and it seems to have accelerated in recent years.”
While Legend didn’t completely shut the door on hope, his comments reflect the deep disappointment many fans and former collaborators feel about the direction Kanye West’s life and public persona have taken.
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