John Legend looked back on his friendship with Kanye West while addressing the rapper’s “decline.”
Back when they met in the mid-2000s, “Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him,” Legend told the London Times in an interview published Saturday.
“He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
Legend signed a record deal with West’s GOOD Music record label in 2004, and they became fast friends.
“Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album ‘The Blueprint’ in 2001,” Legend explained. “Then he experienced a buzz as a solo artist and the whole time I was traveling with him, doing shows with him, getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself. I had been turned down by labels everywhere.”
“Then ‘The College Dropout’ sold 400,000 copies in its first week, everyone wanted to know what was happening in our camp, and all those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round,” he continued.
The 47-year-old and Legend had a falling out in 2022 after West went public with his support of President Donald Trump.
“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, 46, said.
“I don’t think we’re qualified to psychoanalyze him, but after his mother passed in 2007 there was definitely a difference. His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.”
Over the past several months, West has exhibited aggressive antisemitic behavior. He’s even praised Adolf Hitler on X, writing, “Hitler was sooooo fresh.”
“I’m a Nazi,” he went on, adding, “I love Hitler.” He then withdrew his apology to the Jewish community for past antisemitic comments before unleashing a slew of new ones.
“Im never apologizing for my Jewish comments,” he wrote in since-deleted tirade on X. “I can say whatever the f—k I wanna say forever.”
In March, West wore a black Ku Klux Klan outfit as he spoke to DJ Akademiks following his continuous outbursts on social media.