McKinneyNews.net interview: John Legend

by Brett Ryder of McKinneyNews.net

After contributing to the musical efforts of the likes of Kayne West, Lauryn Hill, and several others, John Legend burst onto the music scene in his own right in 2004 with the release of his debut musical production, Get Lifted, a release that would ultimately sell more than three million copies worldwide.

Perhaps best known for two hit singles, “Save Room” from Once Again, Legend’s aptly titled second album (2006), and “Ordinary People,” (Get Lifted) a sentimental reflection on the vicissitudes of life and love reflecting the then 26-year-old’s precociously penetrating understanding of both, Legend’s warm, soulful voice and charming piano work have garnered the 30-year-old author of three albums six Grammy Awards to date.

But it’s not just music that moves Legend. Behind the eyes of a man who grew up in Ohio the son of working-class parents, there lies a powerful mind and a philanthropic heart clearly enlivened by a sense of social responsibility. To this end, the University of Pennsylvania graduate has been involved in raising awareness and money for those in the United States and elsewhere who, for a variety of reasons, have found themselves impoverished and politically disenfranchised.

A week ago, Legend, in New York City, spoke to McKinneyNews.net via telephone. As will become eminently apparent, the singer-songwriter gamely engaged in conversation not simply about music, but also about opportunity and its relation to success.

That his mind -- and mouth -- tend to gravitate toward controversial, and potententially divisive socio-political subjects isn't beyond Legend -- or his legion of admirers. “My fans expect that from me,” Legend said with respect to his outspokenness. “I think my audience wants me to tell the truth."

Legend will be in the area October 3 at WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and October 4 performing with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.

McKinneyNews.net: What would a world without music – or art of any kind – be like?

Legend: It would be a sad world. I think art brings a lot of beauty to the world. It inspires people. I think it brings people together, makes people think. It’s an important part of being a human being, I think.

McKinneyNews.net: Psychoanalyst Otto Rank said the key to the creative type is that he (or she) is separated out of the common pool of shared meanings, that there is something in his life experience that makes him take in the world as a problem. As a result he has to make personal sense out of it, i.e., he or she feels compelled to negotiate the problem through his or her art. What do you see as a problem in the world that perhaps a lot of people (non-artists) don’t see?

Legend: I don’t know if I see things that a lot of other non-artists don’t see. I think everybody looks at certain things as problems. Part of the problem, I think, is that there’s not enough great art out there. And you know part of an artist’s job is to try and put out beauty to the world and hopefully make the world a better place. I think an artist’s job is to tell the truth. In the face of insincerity and lies, we try to combat that with the truth.

McKinneyNews.net: Someone once said that the difference between the artist and the neurotic is that they both see pain and injustice in the world – the social problems, etc., -- but only one, the artist, has the ability to express his or her feelings in a creative way. The neurotic, incapable of artistic creation, becomes mired in his or her psychologically pain. Thoughts?

Legend: There’s a lot of neurotic artists, though (laughs). I’m not sure that’s a proper dichotomy.

McKinneyNews.net: From where does your musical muse come? It’s not a mathematical sort of thing, right?

Legend: It’s hard to say. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I perform so much and I’ve performed so much over a long period of time that I get a sense of what I want to sing and what I want to say to an audience. When I write songs, I’m always thinking about the performance of it.

McKinneyNews.net: When I read interviews of other artists, a lot of times they’ll refer to their music as a gift from Beyond, from the Gods. They cannot seem to explain precisely where the music comes from.

Legend: Yeah, I don’t know either sometimes. Sometimes you just hear melodies that feel good and you hear lyrics that feel good. Lyrically it’s kind of easier to identify where things come from because you’re trying to tell a good story, you’re trying to connect to people, you’re trying to make it rhyme and make it sound good – all these things. But with melodies, you get a sense of what feels good and what doesn’t. You know, the great songwriters of the world have the best sense of that and they tend to write melodies that sing really well and that feel really good.

McKinneyNews.net: Of what creation are you most proud?

Legend: I don’t know. There’s quite a few songs that I’m proud of. “Ordinary People” is one of them. “Again” is one of them.

McKinneyNews.net: Talk a little about “Ordinary People.” What about that song are you proud of?

Legend: Well, part of it is the simplicity and the power of the simplicity. There’s power in the lyrics because they really connected to people. And it was honest. I think it really just tapped into emotions of the audience and felt like the truth to some of the audience. I was really proud of that as a songwriter.

McKinneyNews.net: When I hear “Ordinary People” it impacts me because I’ve been there. The struggles of a romantic relationship, they’re the struggles I assume most of us contend with on a daily basis. Was that song autobiographical?

Legend: I think it was a combination of different experiences and different stories and different conversations. All of it combined for me to write that song and particular story. It’s a combination of all the things I’ve learned and the wisdom I’ve achieved over the years.

McKinneyNews.net: On your website, you’ve written about healthcare and introduced the subject as a guy who admittedly can’t know everything about the subject. You conclude with, “So, while some opponents are trying to scare you away from a government-run health care option, I’d have to say that the status quo in the U.S. seems a lot scarier to me.” The first comment underneath your essay reads: “…these are the reasons I get irritated with celebrities. You say you haven't analyzed the whole health care system and couldn't speak to its complexity, but you shot your mouth off anyway.” Isn’t it financially and vocationally dangerous for a celebrity to have an opinion?

Legend: There’s some risk you run. But I think my audience wants me to tell the truth. They want me to speak out and want to hear what I believe and they respect that from me. Obviously there will be some people who disagree with me and I think you can disagree with somebody without being disagreeable and you can disagree with someone without attacking their right to voice their opinion. I’m always mystified by people who say they don’t want celebrities to speak out about politics but any average Joe can go to a town hall and speak out about politics, so why can’t I? I’m no different than any average citizen that cares about my country, votes, and pays taxes. Being a celebrity doesn’t disqualify me from doing that just like it doesn’t disqualify Joe The Plumber or any other random person in a nonpolitical job. What does disqualify you, I think, is if you don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t say anything in that health care article that I didn’t feel justified in saying, that I actually didn’t spend some time reading about. What I didn’t cover was things I didn’t read or know anything about. I only spoke about what I knew.

McKinneyNews.net: Perhaps part of peoples’ dissatisfaction with celebrities speaking out politically is that we like to live compartmental lives. We want our favorite singers to sing our favorite songs -- to entertain us -- and not interfere with our political compartments. After all, if a celebrity makes us at once feel good about the music while at the same time making us feel bad (or mad) about some sort of political issue, well, that creates an almost unbearable cognitive dissonance.

Legend: I think the only time people don’t like celebrities to speak up is when they disagree with them (laughs). It’s how much your prioritize that. There are some rappers that I don’t agree with, with the message they’re conveying. But I also think they make great music and write excellent lyrics and tell stories very well and they’re clever and all these things. So there are certain things I can compartmentalize and even though I might not agree with their message I can still appreciate their music. There are so many example of great artists who live their lives in ways we might not agree with or approve of but they make great art. There’s a decision each audience member has to make. And it’s their right to decide not to buy an artist’s music.

McKinneyNews.net: You’re heavily involved in philanthropic activities, advocating for the poor, the disenfranchised, those without health care, etc. John, a lot of folks in these parts are of the inclination that you reap what you sow, that the disenfranchised have only themselves to blame for their predicament. Thoughts?

Legend: I believe that every individual has responsibility, that every individual has some control over their circumstances. But it’s not coincidence that most people who grow up with advantage and opportunity end up doing well while those who don’t do not. Obviously some people can defy the odds and some people can be exceptions to the rule. I grew up in a working-class family. Neither of my parents went to college, but I went to college despite the odds. None of my family members -- my brothers or my sister -- went to college. I was the only one. I went to an Ivy-League school, so I defied the odds. There are always people that defy the odds. But it is clear, it is absolutely clear to me – I mean I’ve learned it just from visiting all around the county and seeing different examples – if we put young, disadvantaged kids in a better school, that their outcomes will be significantly better. They’ll go from likely to dropout to likely to go to college and complete college. If the only difference is what school they went to, we should make sure every kid gets the opportunity to go to the great school so they can escape from their circumstance. We have the ability as a country to do this, but we don’t do that right now. So, of course the individual has responsibility. But the government and the families have responsibility as well to give people opportunities to succeed. And clearly, clearly, clearly people who are in poor rural and urban areas have less opportunity to succeed and we should try to do whatever we can as a society to give them more opportunity.