As we write this, Kanye West has successfully mined the latest deposit of the life-giving attention that appears to be the only thing that sustains him at this point, having released a song this week called “Heil Hitler.” Does the song, in which West raps about what sounds like the fairly miserable state of his life, sample an Adolf Hitler speech? Of course it does. Has it been pulled from most major video and streaming platforms? Obviously. Is Twitter/X an exception? ‘Fraid so!
West’s embrace of antisemitism and Nazi rhetoric, which kicked off in earnest in 2022, has represented a fairly hard breakpoint between him and many of the musicians he came up alongside. (At the risk of psycho-analyzing, it’s easy to build a case that that divisiveness is actually one of the reasons for the shift, in addition to whatever other bad impulses are kicking around in West’s head: In 2025, you either have to be really willing to tie yourself to Kanye West’s brand, or have nothing to do with him.) That includes artists he personally worked to raise up in his younger, less troubled days, including guys like John Legend, who broke into mainstream fame as a pretty direct consequence of his time as West’s keyboard player and singer in the era surrounding The College Dropout in the early 2000s.
Legend is currently embarking on a 20th anniversary tour celebrating his debut release, Get Lifted, an album impossible to extricate from West’s legacy. (West not only released the album through his GOOD Music label, but his voice and production are all over it.) Hence, presumably, why Legend can’t get away from at least briefly talking about his former collaborator in a new interview with The Times, in which he expresses his sadness at the whole ugly situation. “Back then Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him,” Legend said in the interview. “He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
In the interview, Legend recounts how studios became much more receptive to his music after The College Dropout exploded, and everything even tangentially connected to West was suddenly made of gold. “All those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round,” he notes. Of West, at the time, “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.” Although hesitant to analyze his former friend, Legend draws attention to the death of West’s mother in 2007, saying, “There was definitely a difference. His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.” West, whose on/off relationship with X is currently pretty firmly in an “on” phase, hasn’t responded to Legend’s comments yet, but, y’know, wait 20 minutes.
