John Legend had a few things to say following Kanye West‘s meeting with Donald Trump earlier this month — namely him calling the whole thing a “publicity stunt.” In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Legend talks about both Kanye and Trump again, but separately.
“I just want him to do whatever he needs to do to feel better and to feel like he’s ready to go again, because music needs him, he says about Kanye’s hospitalization. “The world needs him.” Speaking on the role of artists in the Trump era, he says “we have to be ready to tell the truth and reflect what’s going on.”
Kanye West is a longtime friend and collaborator of yours. What do you make of his hospitalization?
This is a very difficult life and a difficult business. I don’t want to try to play pop psychologist, so I’m not gonna try to analyze what’s happening with him. I just want him to do whatever he needs to do to feel better and to feel like he’s ready to go again, because music needs him. The world needs him. I think he’s such an important talent. We need him at full strength. How do you balance everything you do – acting, producing, music, fatherhood?
You start with knowing what’s most important to you. My family is most important and then second is music. My music career is the reason I have the power to do everything else. There’s a lot of power in celebrity. I obviously use it to sell my own projects and produce TV, and, you know, I use it to get reservations at restaurants too [laughs]. But you try to use it for something that’ll benefit the world too.What do you think the role of artists, specifically, needs to be in the Trump era?
Paul Robeson said that artists are the gatekeepers of truth. And Nina Simone said we’re supposed to reflect the times. So we have to be ready to tell the truth and reflect what’s going on. We’ve gone through some really dark periods in this country. You can’t trivialize them, because they cost people their lives, but we have made progress since those times, and even when we go backward, there’s definitely an opportunity for us to go forward again. We just have to be vigilant and get through this, and then hopefully it’ll be over soon.
Read more over at Rolling Stone’s website.