Then Kanye paid it forward, agreeing to meet up with with a College of Pennsylvania grad who was navigating the New York audio market. “My roommate was like, ‘You gotta meet my cousin, Kanye. He’s operating on Jay-Z’s album,” John recalled during a 2018 the Tribeca Movie Pageant occasion of that initial face. “He is functioning with all these guys from Roc-A-Fella.”
Shortly the two up-and-comers ended up meeting at Kanye’s Newark condominium. “He would give me beats for my demo and I would compose to them, and then I would sing hooks on his,” mentioned John. And when The College or university Dropout artist ultimately scored a recording offer with Roc-A-Fella, he got his new pal the environmentally friendly mild, far too. Shared Legend, “I consider they gave him the deal a lot more so he could just make beats for them and they just wished to continue to keep him in property. But, inevitably, he convinced all people, ‘I’m an artist. I’m not just a producer. I’m an artist. Oh, and, by the way, I signed this really great child, John Legend from Ohio, and you must sign him, much too.'”
A combined 32 Grammys afterwards, secure to say that was a fantastic contact.
