“You’ve got to celebrate the wins because they don’t come all the time.”
A day after the ruling, George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.
Through our art, we are able to do that."
Credit: ID PR
“We can only do so much, but we can make people feel better,” Legend says.
“And I feel like this album can definitely do that.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Obviously, you’re putting outBigger Loveat a difficult time.
Legend, performing in 2019.Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Are you encountering any new anxieties or emotions you haven’t with past record drops?
And by the time you’re done, you’re so proud of this group effort.
I feel that way now.
I’ve felt that way every time I’ve put an album out.
Obviously the circumstances under which we’re releasing are quite different, though.
It changes some of the things that we would normally do.
It’s also just interesting tonally trying to think of how people are receiving their music.
I wrote this all before the pandemic.
You’ve calledBigger Loveyour sexiest album.
Was that the plan going in?
I never have a plan when I’m going into the songwriting process.
I have, “Oh, here’s some people I’d like to work with this time.”
Only time I do that is when it’s for a film.
But when I’m writing for an album, I truly go into it open-minded.
I’m figuring out who I am and where I am in this moment in my life.
Was that officially part of the new rollout plan?
[Laughs] No.
It’s truly never some kind of forethought thing in the strategy, but it definitely doesn’t hurt.
I think it helps significantly.
It gets people excited and wondering what’s behind those snippets.
That’s one of my favorites.
It includes a sample of “I Only Have Eyes for You,” by the Flamingos.
Meanwhile, “Actions” samples David Axelrod’s “The Edge.”
What struck you about both of those songs for you to flip them in a new way?
We didn’t actually sample on the first song.
That’s a good logline, so we ran with that idea.
I really wanted to explicitly bridge those two different styles and eras.
I think of them as songs that I still love.
I’m a bit nostalgic about those [early] albums too.
And I still really love performing those songs.
and “Maxine.”
How did you and Oak come up with the melody for it?
I think everything we share is our choice.
You haveRaphael Saadiqexecutive-producing this record.
You go back a ways, having worked on your second album together.
Do you recall what your first meetup was like?
The first time I met him, I went in and played “Ordinary People.”
And he was just amazed by it.
He still tells me that story.
But I’ve been in awe of his career for a long, long time.
I’m like a true Tony!
and Lucy Pearl fan everything he did, I followed and bought the albums and really listened to them.
Even all the tracks he produced for other people.
And so meeting him early in my career was a big deal for me.
We just clicked right away.
And then of course worked together on the Christmas album.
We just have good chemistry.
Raphael has been such a joy to work with.
How did that go?
Did you watch them playing virtually?
He’s done that really well for us in the past.
I literally have not gone to the studio since the quarantine started.
[John looks up and starts talking to someone off camera]
Chrissy is saying hi.
[Chrissy walks into the frame, bleary-eyed and wearing a robe]
Hi, Chrissy.
CHRISSY TEIGEN:Hi.
Oh, I’m sorry, I just woke up.
He’s being honest, we have not left.
Well, I haven’t left for like two years.
Everything else we did remotely.
This is your first full album of original material not to bearKanye West’s GOOD record label imprint.
Does it feel weird not being with the label anymore?
It feels like this is part of me.
It’s just part of my development.
Kanye is doing the gospel thing and he’s a very successful fashion entrepreneur.
I wouldn’t be here [talking] about my sixth solo studio album without that foundation.
Does it feel that way to you, or do memories of that album still feel within reach?
Well, it feels long ago because it really was.
It was literally a decade ago.
It just made me want to listen to the whole thing, and it holds up.
It feels really urgent and really good right now.
Bill enjoyed that version you guys did, right?
Once I became friendly with him, I began to understand that he writes a lot of long emails.
He’s a writer.
He was a really interesting man.
What was it like meeting him the first time?
It was so cool.
I became friendly with him over email and then started inviting him to our shows.
The first one he came to was me and the Roots.
Questlove was just in awe.
There’s always been an internal struggle between commerce and standing up for political points of view.
Is there ever a breaking point where you draw the the line?
Yeah, there is.
I don’t know if I specifically thought about it in that case.
And so people were trying to decide whether or not they can go to Soul Cycle.
The Grammys seem to face boycotts every year now.
How do you see the the Recording Academy moving forward after theousting of former President Deborah Dugan?
I want the Grammys to work for the artist community.
What were your thoughts on what Diddy said in February, that the Grammyshave never respectedblack artists?
It’s like, how many years do we have to see Beyonce getting snubbed?
Kanye has never won Album of the Year.
It’s kind of insane, actually.
But it’s just like any other voting process.
You have the voters you have.
So that they’re not taking up so much of the bulk of the voting bloc.
