Dec 11, 2006

Monday's Music Review:
John Legend

If you haven't heard a single song by John Legend, you are missing out! Go surf around, or click a couple of the links below and listen to something off his new albumn. He is like an R&B version of Michael Buble', but he writes and performs all of his own music. It is mellow enough to chill out to, but peppy enough to pick you up and brighten your day. Everyone should own this albumn, if only to play at the dinner table or to fall asleep to...

Neo-soul singer and pianist John Legend combined the raw fervor of contemporaries Cody ChesnuTT and the burning precision of D'Angelo. Born John Stephens, Legend was a child prodigy who grew up in Ohio, where he began singing gospel and playing piano at the tender age of five. Legend left Ohio at 16 to go to college in Philadelphia, and it was there that he first found a larger audience. Not yet out of his teens, Legend was tapped to play piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything" in 1998.


After completing college, he moved to New York, where he began to build a loyal following playing in nightclubs and releasing CDs that he would sell at shows. He also became an in-demand session musician, playing and occasionally writing for a wide array of artists, including Alicia Keys, Twista, Janet Jackson, and Kanye West. It wasn't until West signed the young talent to his new label that he adopted the Legend name with 2004's Solo Sessions Vol. 1: Live at the Knitting Factory.


Get Lifted, his first studio album, was released later in the year. On the strength of enduring single "Ordinary People," the album reached the Top Five of the Billboard 200. This led to three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Once Again followed in October 2006.

~ Wade Kergan, All Music Guide


Once Again is the sophomore studio album by R&B/Soul singer John Legend, and the first single is Save Room. The list of producers and co-writers include Kanye West, will.i.am, Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra, Eric Hudson, Devo Springsteen, Dave Tozer and Avenue.

The album has a range of influences, from soul to hip-hop to classic pop to alternative. "It's not dramatically different, but I think people will see it as a growth and an extension for me. It's a richer sound. The production is more developed. I just tried to do it with the highest standards of quality."

Once Again was released on Kanye West's GOOD Music label on October 24, 2006.

~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia