Legend comes from Springfield, Ohio where he was already playing classical and gospel piano when he was only four years old. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 20. Since then he has notched up notable work credits as a songwriter, back-up singer and pianist in important releases by the likes of Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Twista, Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson and Kanye West.
In fact, West was so pleased with their collaboration in his own debut effort, the Grammy winning College Dropout album that the rap star decided to launch Legend’s solo career himself. West marks his first venture as executive producer with another artist for the new Getting Out of Our Dreams label with Legend’s debut album, Get Lifted.
West co-wrote and raps along with Legend in the track entitled Number One in the album. Other big names like Snoop Dogg, I Can Change, and Miri Ben-Ari, Live It Up, are also in for the ride. There are hints of West’s hip-hop influence throughout and Legend’s classic R&B roots are very evident but he is really neither one nor the other. Truth to tell, Legend’s most important collaborator for Get Lifted is somebody who goes unbilled but whose strong presence leaps up from every cut. This is none other than but Alicia Keys.
I do not know if he is meant for the same phenomenal stature but given his talents and his type of music, it is very safe to surmise that Legend is the male counterpart of Alicia Keys. They are both singers who play the piano and write their own materials. The piano is the dominant instrument in Get Lifted. Legend has the same kind of assured, expressive vocals and his writing is certainly more melodic and purposeful than what we usually get from R&B artists these days. Very Alicia.
From Tower Records and Music One comes this list of the top 25 selling albums for the period of July 18 to 24. Take note that the top five hits are all by Filipino artists and two of them are by acoustic duo M.Y.M.P. John Legend is at number 24 after 11 weeks in the list.
In a way this is really good news. I believe that having more artists similar to Alicia Keys and John Legend in the business will help improve the content of R&B music. They bring substance back to R&B. This is something that is on the verge of extinction given all the slangy vocal histrionics, yapping, sampling and gimmicky production that characterizes R&B music these days.
The current single release is the elegant ballad, Ordinary People. I also have high hopes for the soulful So High. The other songs in the album are Let’s Get Lifted, Used to Love U, Alright, She Don’t Have to Know, Stay with You, Let’s Get Lifted Again, Refuge (When It’s Cold Outside) and It Don’t Have to Change featuring the Stephens Family.