July 16, 2025 • 42 mins
Singer and songwriter John Legend joins Angie Martinez to discuss his marriage with model Chrissy Teigen and how their relationship has evolved. He gives key notes on how to sustain a healthy marriage and discusses the IVF journey they’ve gone on. John discloses which weddings he sang “All of Me” at and talks about his overall approach to song writing. He later discusses how to balance focusing on politics along with his everyday life and music career. John talks about raising kids in the social media age, and how they’re navigating access to social media apps and AI. John then answers some In Real Life questions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, all right, irl, baby, we are back. Today's guest
is a true artist in every sense of the word.
H He's a singer, songwriter, activist, husband, father, egot. One
of only twenty or nineteen.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I think it's twenty now, twenty now.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Only twenty people haven't e got it's the entire history
of the world. Yes, you are one of those twenty people.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I was number fifteen.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I believe your legend. It is John Legend in the building.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Benzi Angie Martinez also a legend. Oh thank you. I
lived in New York for such a long time, so
I feel like you're just part of my life, me
part of my life, and I always love hearing your voice.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's funny to see that you're like celebrating this twenty
year anniversary thing now, because I also have memories of
you coming in. Yes, I remember one moment you had
just started dating Chrissy and I said, oh, I hear
you're dating a model now, and you said, well, she's
more than a model, and I was like, okay, sorry,
you're right all about it. I feel like you were
(01:12):
already like deep in love by the time.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I probably a probably. So we met in September two
thousand and six. We actually shot a video together. So
it's you know, like we just had chemistry from the
second we met, and we started dating not long after that,
and here we are nineteen years later. A month. Yeah,
we met September two thousand and six, and so and
(01:36):
we got married eleven and a half years ago. But
we've you know, been with each other for much longer.
So it's been it's been a minute, Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So we're twenty years celebrating now as old as activity and.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Shows, Yes, we're doing shows. We did a remix version
of the album with Black Bard and Killer Mike and
Lil Wayne and Thames.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And such a good group that you picked.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Like amazing. Everybody really added something special to it. All
the producers did great remixes and it all feels really good.
And then we've just been out on the road celebrating
with everybody, and and I just love like connecting with
my fans that have been with me since the beginning,
and and they'll tell me, like, you know, this got
me through high school, got me through college, got me
(02:19):
through this relationship, yes, exactly, And just knowing that we've
been a part of people's lives for that long is
really special.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Wedding videos.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh yeah, all the time on Instagram, Like I'm always
getting feeds of you know, my song being used for
this or that. And you know, it started with Getting Lifted,
so we had on that album, we had Stay with
You and so High that people used a lot for weddings,
and then of course All of Me has become one
of the biggest wedding songs of all time.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Have you ever done All of Me at a wedding?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Who's wedding?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I mean it's been expensive to get me to
do it. It's got me really expensive, but yeah, it's
like a home Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I've done it a
few times.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
People you knew were just like people who just could
afford it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
People who could you know who I knew. I did
it at Kanye Kim's wedding because that was right after
we got married, right when All of Me came out,
and then Kanye was at that wedding. He was got
inspired and was like, I want to do my wedding
in Italy too, and and so they got married like
nine months later, and he was obsessed with All of
(03:24):
Me too, because he was executive producing that album that
it was on and we didn't write that song together,
but he was just obsessed with that song. And of
course I did it at their wedding too, So that's
one of the few weddings of like a friend of
mine that I did it at, and then I did
Gabby Union and d Wade's wedding. But at that point,
(03:45):
all of me was so ubiquitous that they were like,
can you do another song.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Else?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So we did You and I for that one, which
was on the same album.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But does it hit differently for you? Because even songs
that we like and know and like iconic songs some
time in those moments, they just hit dimmer. Oh yeah,
I can't imagine you being eat, whether Gavin or even
Kanye's being in Italy and watching two people and you
are singing the song.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It has it's special.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Feel, the feeling of it, I mean, what is that
feeling that most of us could never really experience.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Especially well, the first time I sang it in front
of an audience was literally at my wedding. So we
got married in Italy and if you look back at
the music video, we shot it there that week of
the wedding at Lake Como, and then I sang it
live on the piano at the reception, and it was
a moment, you.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Know, are you a mess inside? Is she a mess inside?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Well, some tears were shit, I didn't cry in that moment.
She cried the first time she heard it. And I
when I sang it to her the first time, I
had just come home from the studio and I was like,
you're gonna love this song. I wrote it for you
and we were engaged by that point, and she cried
the first time she heard it. Yeah, so sweet.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I can only imagine those moments. How beautiful is
that to have? I mean, that's just that's just one song,
but even like the first album and all of these
amazing moments in your career, Like just how special that
you get to experience the world in that type of way.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And like a lot of my memories are tied to
what song was I writing at this time, What song
was I touring with at this time? What album? And
so yeah, these albums they mark like moments in your life,
and and so much of it has been beautiful and
celebrating love and and and like connection. And so when
(05:39):
I go through the songs and think about where I
was in my life at that time. It just brings
back all these memories.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Is one of the hardest because you talk about writing truth. Yeah,
what is like the hardest truth you've had to put
in a song?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, you know, I I've written about my family and
I've talked about my family too and some of the
episode downs that we face. And actually Ordinary People wasn't
a based on my own relationship. It was based on
my parents and the up and down situation that they
were in because they had gotten divorced when we were kids,
(06:13):
when I was like ten eleven years old, then they
got remarried when I was graduating from college, then they
got redivorced when Get Lifted was being written. So I
was literally writing Ordinary People about the ups and downs
of my parents' relationship. And we went through a lot
as a family just dealing with them and they're back
and forth.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Because it's not just their up and down.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, because we had all how to experience it. And
when I was writing Ordinary People, that's what it was about.
That's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
But you would think as kids you'd be happy, like
if your parents get back together.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's stressful. It was like, are we going through this again?
Put us through this again, and we were like happy
for them that, you know, they seem like they had
read like fallen in love and all this stuff, but
we also remembered how stressful it was for everybody before
and we're like, please, don't let it be stressful again.
(07:04):
And turns out it was stress And now they're both remarried.
I have stepfather and stepmother and they're both lovely, and
I feel like they both found the person that they're
going to, you know, truly, you know, grow old with.
And so I'm happy that both of them found that.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
What is that do to Like, So when you grow
up with that type of up and down, what does
that do to you as a husband? Like, how does
that show?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It can go either way because I've seen it in
my siblings where I feel like it can make you
like hesitant to want to be in love with somebody
and make that commitment. It can erode your trust. But
for me, I feel like it's done the opposite. It's
made me like want to make sure that Christy and
(07:50):
I don't do that. It's like been an example of
what not to do.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, that's with anything, right, Yeah, your parent is alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And some people never ever, some people go off in
a way and some people end up following their footeps.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You know, So that's your goal, So that's your motivating as.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Part of it, you know, even as silly as it sounds, like,
we'll watch like reality TV and see families going through
divorce and we're just like, that cannot be us. I
love that you know that you're so clear like we
are staying together. That that's like when we watch that ship,
we're just like, nah, not us.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
People hear that, though, and then they assume it's just easy, right,
and people say.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's not easy. But I feel like it doesn't have
to be as hard as we make it too. And
I give us the trick for that.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Then, because for most people it's really hard.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I think. One, you have to be fortunate enough to
like fall in love and marry someone that you really
are like supposed to be with. Choose well, Yeah, so
choose well. And I feel like we really chose well.
Like we have great chemistry and it's not just physical.
It started out as physical, but we really just vibe
really well together. We respect each other, love each other,
(09:01):
support each other, have each other's back, and we like
hanging out with each other.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That's a good like foundation to start with. But you
also have to be mindful and you have to work
on yourself and work on like whatever your bad habits
are and your bad relationship habits are, whatever they.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Are, like us, want to share one that you had
to learn.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, I have to be like more emotionally available, like
because I'm very like I'm so like chill and stoic
all of me, but I'm also so like I'm just
like some people call me a robot, Like I'm so
like emotionally like even kill. And I think that works
(09:42):
for a lot of situations, but sometimes you need to
like like show some emotion, show some passion, and so
I've had to do that. And I think another thing
is like I always want to fix everything, and like
if Chrissy's going through something and she like complains to
me about it, she's dealing with it, Like I'm always
(10:03):
skipping straight to how do I fix it? But sometimes
you just need to like let the person vent and
like it to therapy you, Yeah, exactly, Like you can't
just be like I'm just fixing everything. You have to
like actually like commiserate with them and allow them to like
say their piece.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
You know, we just did Cynthia Rebo Actually yeah, and
she would talk. We were talking about love and relationships
and how challenging it is for people because you have
to grow and you're not the same person.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You were level years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So while you're growing and she's growing. Yes, that sometimes
causes uh, you know, distancing people. They don't give the
other the room to grow. And I always find that
part fascinating. And you have to because you want to
hold on, yeah, because you love somebody, But then also
you kind of let let people be.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You have to let people evolve, and they're going to
like try new things. They're going to like, we're both
creative people, and like you want to like encourage each
other's create and exploration and entrepreneurship, all of it. Like
you just want to you want to be supportive of
all of it. I feel like some couples there's jealousy
(11:12):
of other people's success, like like they feel like quietly
they're competing with each other. And I've just never been
like that, Like I want her to win at everything,
and I'm not like keeping score of who's doing better
at this or that, Like I just truly want her
to win all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I think also too, sometimes it's like a possessiveness, like
like you represent me and I represent you. So if
I don't like, what if you dye your hair blue
and I think it's hideous, Yeah, it makes me look bad.
I think some of that goals.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
You got to let people be their own person, You.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Gotta let people rock, right. Yeah, I saw this somewhere
where you were talking about how your dad taught you
how to be emotionally.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, he was such He's always been so romantic, Like yeah,
he's like truly like he was like to open the door,
go out on a nice date. And for him, you know,
it was like red Lobster, literally she's business. But for
us that was like a big deal. But like he
was just always such a gentleman. And I really think
(12:16):
we all like he raised three boys and a girl,
and all the boys just learned like this is how
you treat a woman. And so I'm grateful for him
for that, but also grateful for him for just showing
us how to be a great dad too. Like he
was so energetic and full of like he would just
like do the treasure hunts around the house and like
(12:37):
little games and like fun things. Yeah, he was like
truly present and also like he enjoyed being a dad,
Like he took a lot of pride and like being
like a fun, cool dad that we enjoyed hanging out with.
And so I feel like I was influenced by him
for that too.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, because there's a lot of talk about like men
and boys, especially as father's teaching sons, but just emotional intelligence,
how to communicate emotions, feel emotions in a healthy way,
all those things. I do wonder what you tell your
(13:16):
your kids.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, they have no problem communicating their emotions right now,
big feelings. You got a house full of feelings, house
full of feelings. My oldest is nine, Luna, and then
Miles is seven, and then we've got two that are
two years old, SD and Wren, And it's all feelings.
The boy oh yeah, oh yeah, feelings, And he's comfortable
(13:43):
expressing feelings. Yeah. And you know when he's mad, you'll
know he's mad. But he's also like so joyful and
like loving too.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That just happened because how they do is that something?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I think it's hormones. I think it's uh, we're seeing
it because he, you know, has a bunch of male
friends at school and they're all like so energetic, and
they'll tackle each other and hug each other. It's like
it's all just big yeah, like the same the same
dude will hug him and tackle him within five minutes
(14:15):
and and so it's just I think it's just that
time in their lives where they're just full of like
energy and emotion and exuberance and you just wanted to
channel in the right way, but you also got to
let them just be be a kid.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I love how intentional you guys have been about creating
your family.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Oh man, And it's been fun. Honestly. The house is
like so fun right now. It's like this age is
really fun. Like none of them are adolescents yet, so
I feel like I'm scared of that era, but this
era is fun.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I would love to talk about the family, just the
intention about how you put your family together. Yase, you know,
people find family by surprise. Yes, people have, people are adopted.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
We have happy accidents and happy accidents and then sometimes
I'm so happy accident exactly figure it out and so
we use IVF. So it's crazy because the only kid
we conceived naturally we lost in a miscarriage, and so
it was scary ever trying to do it naturally again
because it was like, that's the only one we lost.
(15:25):
And when we did IVF, it worked out so beautifully
and it allowed us to kind of time when we
could have the kid and work with our doctor and
make sure everything was healthy and right. And so it
really did work for us. IVF did work, and we
have four beautiful kids from him.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Do you feel like there's a greater appreciation. I'm not
to say that people are appreciative of their children, but
like when you work that hard to intentionally put a
family together, like.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I think, I think everybody loves their kids, and hopefully
everybody loves them unconditionally and purely. But you know, when
you do work that hard, it just makes you even
more appreciative of what you have. And also I think
it made us on the political side, not to get
too political, but think about like what it means for
(16:12):
a woman to be able to decide when they can
have kids and how important that is for a woman,
for her family, for everybody involved that you have control
over when that happens in your life. So it made
us I think even more politically, like yo we are
for we are pro choice all the way, and we
(16:35):
want to be like intentional about fighting for other women's
rights around the country and around the world to be
able to make that kind of decision that we made.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
How do you navigate through that? Because it is so
much I know, we don't have to get so political. Yeah,
but you are. You have always been very active and
very vocal about your opinions, and just now is the
time in the world is like nothing we've ever seen.
And so how are you balancing that? Like in your
real life? How are you?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
It's wild. It's wild because part of you is like
life is great, Like I have a great family, I'm
in a great house, I get to go on beautiful vacations,
Like life is beautiful for me. I'm making art that
I love and I'm proud of, Like there's so many
amazing things. But at the same time, you feel like
the country's falling apart, the world's falling apart, and it's
(17:21):
hard to think, like, well, what does that mean? Like
am I supposed to be like am my feelings about
it all the time? Am I supposed to be posting
about it all the time? Or am I like just
supposed to enjoy my life, because my life is wonderful,
like in our little cocoon, like everything's going great, and
so part of me is like torn on how much
(17:43):
to focus on all the bad shit that's going on
in the world versus just focusing on what I immediately
control in my family. And so, yeah, that's a dilemma.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I feel that very deeply.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, And I think the way I've resolved it is
continue to focus on, even on the activism side, what
you can control, and right now, like I can't control
what's going on federally, but I can stay involved in
my community, stay involved on a state level, and so
like all the activism stuff that we do is really
local in state, so in California, in LA, but also
(18:19):
in other states. Controlling what we can control and not
focusing on, you know, what we can't control.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Do you say, do you have like a limit on
the news cycle?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I pay plenty of attention to it, probably too much,
And like I said, it can be hard because it's
like my life is great, but like the world feels
like it's falling apart a lot of times, and so
I want to stay connected to the news and I
don't want to just be like, let me just ignore it,
(18:49):
because I don't feel like that's a great way for
me to be in the world. I feel like I
still need to know what's going on and to stay
involved wherever I can.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Are you, I don't know, worried? Do you have fear?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
And I'm worried. I'm worried when the government can just
kidnap people and send them to another country without any
due process, like that should make all of us worried.
It doesn't feel like it would happen to me, but
it feels like it could happen to somebody in my community.
Like I live in Los Angeles and we have a
lot of people who come from Mexico, from Ecuador, from
(19:26):
El Salvador, from Guatemala. There's so many people that they look,
you know, a certain way if you're profiling and you
know there And basically that's what the ICE agents are doing.
They're going through looking for people who look Hispanic, and
whether or not they have due process or warrant or anything,
(19:49):
they're just snatching them up. They were literally we were
notified by our kids preschool that they were going through
the parks and swooping up the park. Jesus and making
the kids sit there in the back of the van
until their parents came to pick them up, and they
would snatch up the nannies and they snatch up the
(20:10):
guys doing day labor, you know, at the home depots
and things, and like that is traumatic for a whole
community to go through that, and it could happen to
people that we're friends with, people that we know. And
that's why I was saying before the election, I'm like, yo,
like beware, like this is what they're promising to do,
(20:31):
and like they're they're telling you.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Still big surprise.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, they're telling you, this is what they're promising to do,
and so vote accordingly. And I feel like a lot
of people just didn't believe that. They thought it happened
to somebody else. But it's happening to a lot more
people than somebody else.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Here we are, Yeah, I asked you that because I'm like,
my mother's like watch she could just watch it from
the mornings the night. I'm like, this is I can't
overdose on it, but not healthy. It's still healthy. Yes,
we want to be active and we want to be aware,
not just aware, but we want to use our like
you said, our resources, our platforms, but also there's like
a balance of keeping yourself sane. Do you have a
(21:09):
thing that you do? Like what is you're saying when
you feel out of overwhelmed? Like what do you find
your Saturday? Do you have any rituals? Do you meditate?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
What do you meditate? But I gotta say, I'm probably
the most naturally like person. What is that?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Explain that? How do you do it? How does it happen?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
My dad is like that too, so I feel like
I inherited it from my dad in a lot of ways.
But I'm just very chill like like what you see,
Like I've got monk vibes. I really do, and it's natural.
I think it probably like Chrissy's just amazed by it
sometimes because she's very more dynamic exactly, She's more dynamic
(21:51):
and emotional and like and more spontaneous, and I'm just like,
that's why you work. I'm super si. Yeah. We compliment
each other well.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Always because I'm by the way, I'm like fascinated with
monks and Buddhism and things, because I always I think,
what a beautiful way to live life without too many highs,
too many lows, like keeping this nice. But then I think,
if you don't, are you not fully experiencing the high?
Exactly I'm gonna say, if you're saying right here, ya,
are you experiencing the high?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
I think you gotta. Like I was saying before, it
take time to celebrate wins. You've got to like enjoy
your life. And I think when I when I was
starting out, I was so focused on I gotta make money,
I gotta do this, I gotta do that that like
you forget like, well why am I trying to make money?
Like what am I doing this for? And I feel
(22:44):
like at this phase of my life, I'm more focused on,
let's actually enjoy the moments in life. Yes, and uh,
And so I feel like I've grown to focus more
on like truly enjoying these moments with my family, with
my loved ones, with my friends, and actually just having
a good time, because like, what is all this work
and success for. If you can't enjoy it, you must.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Have chosen Well, I know you've chosen a good wife,
not a perfect nobody's perfect. A good wife for you. Yeah,
you probably chosen good friends.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, what do you what do you?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
What do you tell people about that? Like what will
you teach your kids about how to choose the people
in your life, whether it be friends or relationships or well.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I've been lucky that a lot of my friends are
from before I was famous, and people I worked with,
people I went to school with, Like I didn't get
a record deal till I was twenty five, so I
had kind of lived some of my young adult life.
And a lot of my closest friends are people that
I knew from prior to the fame. And I think
(23:46):
that's helpful to keep me grounded. And you know, my
prior life, I was like an Ivy League student, I
was a management consultant. So my friends are like people
that work in finance and our professors smart pants, and
so it's like an interesting group of friends to have
because like it intellectually challenges me, and like our group
(24:10):
chats are are like interesting, We like talk about interesting
things about what's going on in the world and all
the political stuff that interests us. And your smartest friend,
smartest friend, well, and I have a feel like and
what have you learned from them? Some of them, Like
one of my friends is a professor and she's amazing.
I went to college with her. One of my friends
(24:33):
is a very successful like investor, and so I learned
from all of them. Like I learned about the money
side of the world, I learned about kind of more
of the activism and intellectual side of the world. It's
good and uh and I think they challenge me in
some ways. It makes my art better. Yeah, really, yeah,
I really believe.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That your art is not just emotion.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
It's I feel like, like my friend that is a
professor she uh, she also writes for The New York Times.
So I feel like having a friend like that makes
me like Sharper artistically.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
They say that, right, yeah, Sharp and Steel. I have
some in real life questions. All right, we want to
know how to go through this this life, John, And
you've done pretty well for yourself, all right, this in
real life, both in real life. Pick one, pick a
good one, pick a good one. And I have others
just quick questions. Here we go things about life.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
If you were the leader of the world, what's the
first thing you would do. I feel like we could
solve poverty if we make the right investments. And really, yeah,
like in our lifetime, yeah, we we we make choices
that make it so we don't solve poverty when if
we made the other choices, we we could actually do it. Like,
(25:54):
you know, even in the in the US, like a
very simple policy decision by and made that expired was
the earned income credit for a child tax credit basically,
so everybody with a child got a little extra money
and it took like millions of people out of poverty,
(26:17):
just that simple decision. Uh, and it got rolled back
when it expired. But like, that's a choice, it's a
policy choice, and it could take millions of people out
of poverty if we did it, you'd bring it back,
bring it back.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
What's one part of parenting that no one warned you about.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I feel like I got a lot of warnings about
a lot of things. I'm trying to think what no
one warned me.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I just had this conversation. I was a guest on
Michelle Obama's podcast, and we talked about like, no one
told me that I would be worried about somebody for
the rest of my life. It's not a small thing.
Like inserting that level of concern into your life every
day for the rest of your life is not a
(27:04):
small shift.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, that's real.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I mean, insert joy and love and all those other
things too, but that part nobody's ever warned me about.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Well, one of the interesting things now is there's all
this research and I think I just saw missus Obama
talking about it on her Instagram today. She's talking about
with the author of The Anxious Generation about social media
and the impact that it has on our kids, especially girls.
And I feel like like our parents just had no
(27:35):
idea like what this generation is dealing with that, And
now we've got social media plus AI and like, I
feel like it's all uncharted territory for like how kids
are supposed to be in the world, and what impact
is going to have on the kinds of jobs that
we should even encourage them to study for, and like
(28:00):
how they're going to write papers and read books and
and what kind of jobs are going to be out
there in the world for them. And then the social
media side, just the level of insecurity and anxiety that
it encourages and and all of it. And I feel
like our parents had no idea how to prepare us
because it just didn't exist when they were do we exactly?
And this author, you know, his name is Jonathan Haye,
(28:22):
and you know, we went to one of his talks
in La Oh. It was it was like we were
so we were at a good time in our lives
because our kids don't have phones yet and they're not
on social media yet, and so it's we we got
it in time to like listen and like be like, yo,
we're not letting them have a smartphone tell a certain age.
(28:43):
And I think it's like we said ninth grade or
something like that. I forget. But we made a pact
with other parents at the school and said, let's band
together because if one of us, you know, lets our
kid have a phone this early, then all the other
kids will be like, well she got one or he
(29:04):
got one, and so you have to It's called a
collection a collective action issue.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
And so did you start this? We did it as
a group, Like my wife was involved. She's a Girl
Scout mom and so it was her and like a
few of the Girl Scout moms that started it. And
then we did it with the whole third grade, which
is our oldest grade.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
So no phones, yeah till the ninth grade.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, and then no social media. I think they say
until you're like sixteen or something.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
No Instagram, no Snap, any of that. And they say,
you have to be really mindful of group chats because
a lot of the group chats are where the bullying
happens and like the you know, excluding and ostracizing people,
and you just got to be really mindful of all
of it. And I think they're learning so much about
(29:50):
the effect that it has on kids that we can
benefit from all the things that they're learning and the
previous generation didn't know.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Are your kids pushing back on any of that.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
No, they're good so far. But I feel like, wait,
so Luna is like eleven or twelve, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
See, are you prepared to stand?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yes, We're gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And what is the benefits What do they say to
the benefits of that.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Well, it's just like their attention span in class, just
reading a book, you know. Just think of how there's
a whole generation of kids that like it's hard for
them to focus on anything like a book a movie
because they're so like and like, when your brain is
trained to do that, especially at this age, when your
(30:42):
brain is still being formed and your habits are being formed,
it's not a good thing. And then the AI thing,
like that's a whole nother.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Yeah, wear you with that because it's giving me a
bit I love it in so many ways. It's helped
me to like projects ideas, helps me kind of like
formulate ideas really quickly. I also have a little anxiety
about it because it is so fast that you start
to feel that feeling of like I need to be faster.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, And like do you feel like, are any of
our kids going to like read the whole book or
they're just going to get AI to tell them what
it was about? And are they going to write any
more papers themselves or.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Like but should they too?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
That's a good question, Like we don't know, and we
don't know what the like the side effects of all
that are going to be on on my kids development.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
One of my kids was working on something they're not
allowed to use AI, and I thought that I don't
know that that's either right but when it's not realistic,
and I also don't think it's the smartest way to
look at it because AI is here, it's happening. Yeah,
so we can tell that. We could say, hey, don't
use that, they're still going to use it, or we
can say how can you use that smarter? How can
(31:49):
you use that better than everyone else is using how
can you use you know, so, I don't know, it's tricky.
I just wonder how you guys managed that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Well, the kids aren't really on it yet, so but
I think by the time the high in high school,
like it'll be so it'll be so robust and it's
be so there that I think that's what teachers are
going to end up doing is saying, well, how do
you use this properly in a way that actually stimulates
you learning? Uh that you can put your own creative
(32:17):
spin on anything and still be like a creative person,
but get kind of the extra support from AI.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
John Legend, h could you go into AI right now
and ask it to write a John Legend song?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I think, yeah, they're apps to do that. Yeah you
want to try, Well, who's the right app to do it?
Because I haven't used that, you know. I sat down
with one of the companies early on when they were
like kind of beta testing, and I was like, I
(32:55):
don't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yet they did it for me too, were trying to
read commercials in my voice. It's not the same thing.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, And uh so for now I feel like we're
safe as as songwriters, but I do feel like even
as a songwriter, it can give you a bunch of
ideas and then a lot of them are crap.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But like, what should the song be? What should the hook?
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Can you? Let's decide what do we want to write about?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
How do you? Well? How do you normally?
Speaker 2 (33:23):
How do I usually start with the music and then
build off of that. But this time, let's say, let's
write a John Legend love song, hook a hook or
whole like yeah, of courus chorus, if it'll if it?
Don't know what that means, professing undying love to his wife.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Oh my god, the fact that that's what you think of,
profssing undying love. I'm spelling everything wrong, But he understands me.
Mine is called g Is it gonna to sing it
to us? I don't know, we're going to see.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
I think there are apps that actually will sing it
to you if you tried this. The one I was
doing was a beta test, and it could use your
voice if you gave it permission to. So for the
beta test, they used my actual voice for it. But
I don't think any company could just do that because.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
They got the song is called every time I say I.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Do every time I say I do.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
You could kill that? I hear you a love letter
and lyrics from John Legend and Christy.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Oh here we go.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
I've said I love you a thousand ways, in burnt toasts,
mornings and get away days.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I don't see that I don't try AI in this
why I'm not worried about my job security.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
In the silence when you fall asleep, and in the
chaos when the baby scream. You've seen my soul in
every shade, from my Sunday best to my worst mistakes,
and somehow, even when I lose my way, you still stay.
This is not terrible, John, It's not terrible. Where's the
eye do part? It comes to the chorus.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Okay, here's the chorus.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So every time I say I do, I mean I
choose this life again with you, through every storm, every
high and low. You're the reason. You're the home. You're
the melody I fall into. So every time I say
I do, I do.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Okay, I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at
that chorus.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Now you would have to put melody to and not have.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
To massage it and.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
All the things you do. Do you think this is
something you would ever play around with?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Well? I think there are plenty of songwriters already doing it,
so like it's happening.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I have John Legend.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I haven't done it yet, but I feel like that
would be a starter to you. That would be a starter. Yeah,
that would be a starter for a song. And then
I would make it better. You'd have to make it better.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
So you still believe in us as humans and our
God given talents absolutely over that.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, And and but I think what AI does is
what just happened, is like it gives you enough of
a starter for an idea that you can massage and
edit and humanize.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And it gives you no anxiety.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
That doesn't give me anxiety. And I think the reason
why is because I know I add so much humanity
and like experience and art to songwriting and I've been
doing it for such a long time that the AI
is just not going to duplicate it in that way.
But it can give you ideas and get you going.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah for sure, Sure, where does that gift? What is
your relationship like with that gift?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
But to get the songwriting? First of all, I truly
love it, Like I get so much joy, like pure joy.
It's amazing, Like I just wrote a song the other day.
It was for a film, and so I had kind
of a clear like direction where I was going, and
I wrote it in like two or three hours, and
(36:55):
I was like, I am so lucky that I get
to go go to work create something that did not
exist before, and be like genuinely proud of it. And
it's a brand new thing that is this in the
world that didn't exist before. Like, I feel like that's
an amazing gift to have, totally, and I like every
day I pinch myself that I get to do this
(37:16):
for a living.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Okay, damn we started this, But I think I know
this answer. On a scale of one to ten, how
happy are you today, I'm like, I'm real good. I
feel that from you. Yeah, I feel like I almost
didn't need to ask.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I feel very happy. But like I said, I'm like
reading the news, so I'm like, I'm so happy in
my own life and everything that's going on in my
own life. But it is sad when I read the
news and see like death and war and you know,
the government kidnapping people, So like I can't be at
(37:48):
a full ten because it's still in the back of
my mind the world. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, but you're operating pretty high up there. Good for you.
In real life? What do you pray for most?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I just pray for my family, Like I want them
to be healthy and safe and and you know, when
you have four kids, I guess, like like you were
talking about before, it gives you something to always be
worried about the rest of your life for yeah, and
so you know, like so I think the most constant
(38:22):
prayer is just that my kids are healthy and happy
and and and and also like beyond like just surviving,
Like you want them to like genuinely be happy and
thrive and find something they love to do and are
fulfilled by and all that good stuff. And they got
some time to figure that out. But you want all
that for your kids.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
And you've experienced the other part of it. You've come
up out of it and even honest about grief.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And yeah, it was a tough time. It was really tough.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Ye How do you pick yourself back up from that?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well, you need each other and you need to support
each other and then therapy. You gotta talk about it.
You got to have love around you. And I think
it helped that we had the kids that we have,
you know, because you remain like so grateful for them
and are so appreciative of what they mean to your life,
(39:17):
and so it helps you kind of get through the
loss because you know you have something to continue to.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Live for, so focusing on what you have right.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Okay, when was the last time in real life that
you cried from gratitude?
Speaker 2 (39:33):
Oh? Today, it was recent. I think it had some
of you with my kids, that man, having kids makes
me kids. I'm a softy about my kids. Like I
was never like a crier, I told you, I'm emotionally like.
I was never a crier until I started having kids.
And like, it'll be like just the little things with them,
(39:56):
when they make me proud and when they say something
that like reflects on like our teachings to them, and
they're like kind to each other and like and you
just feel like, oh, they're actually listening so what we
try to indoctrinate them with. And you see that manifested
(40:16):
and it's a beautiful thing and that does make me
cry sometime. Yeah, you are emotions.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
You are not a robot.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
I'm not a robot all the time.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
And your name is legend, But how often do you
think about your legacy?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
I think about it. And I think during this season
of like celebrating Get Lifted, and I've been telling my
story a lot more Like before this Get Lifted tour,
We've been doing a Songs and Stories tour that was
just me solo, so it's like a one man show.
I was telling my story, playing songs and piano, going
back and forth.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
And this whole era of my life has been in
some ways about reflecting on everything that I've done so far,
and at the same time, I'm creating new music. Album
is gonna come out next year, and so I'm never
like just resting on what I did before. But I'm
also like genuinely celebrating my legacy right now and then
continue to try to build another chapter of that legacy.
(41:13):
So I do think about it. And you know, Legend
was a nickname. It was first started by j Ivy.
He's a spoken word artist from Chicago, and he was
in the studio with us with me and Kanye. We
were making College Dropout and he started calling me the Legend.
And you know, at this time in my life, I'm
not signed yet, I'm not a legend by any stretch,
(41:35):
no imagination, and I'm like how are you gonna call
yourself legend? Well, you don't even have a record deal.
But it gave me something to like aspire to, to
live up to, and so it made me even more
so think, well, I need to make a legacy this
worthy of me deciding to go ahead and call myself
(41:55):
this as a stage name. Like, if you're going to
call yourself John Legend, you better come correct. And so
I've been trying to build a legacy that's worthy of it.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
What do you hope people that like take away from
your life? Like if you have to think about like
what people learn from.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
You, Well, I want people to feel the love and
the light in the music. I want them to connect
with it and make it part of their lives. And
we've seen that happen, you know already. Like I want
to make the world more beautiful, Like is that my
job as an artist is let's make the world more beautiful.
And I'm just going to keep trying to do that.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Oh I love that. Well done, sir, everybody in real life,
thank you.
Okay, all right, irl, baby, we are back. Today's guest
is a true artist in every sense of the word.
H He's a singer, songwriter, activist, husband, father, egot. One
of only twenty or nineteen.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I think it's twenty now, twenty now.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Only twenty people haven't e got it's the entire history
of the world. Yes, you are one of those twenty people.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I was number fifteen.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I believe your legend. It is John Legend in the building.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Benzi Angie Martinez also a legend. Oh thank you. I
lived in New York for such a long time, so
I feel like you're just part of my life, me
part of my life, and I always love hearing your voice.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's funny to see that you're like celebrating this twenty
year anniversary thing now, because I also have memories of
you coming in. Yes, I remember one moment you had
just started dating Chrissy and I said, oh, I hear
you're dating a model now, and you said, well, she's
more than a model, and I was like, okay, sorry,
you're right all about it. I feel like you were
(01:12):
already like deep in love by the time.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I probably a probably. So we met in September two
thousand and six. We actually shot a video together. So
it's you know, like we just had chemistry from the
second we met, and we started dating not long after that,
and here we are nineteen years later. A month. Yeah,
we met September two thousand and six, and so and
(01:36):
we got married eleven and a half years ago. But
we've you know, been with each other for much longer.
So it's been it's been a minute, Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So we're twenty years celebrating now as old as activity and.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Shows, Yes, we're doing shows. We did a remix version
of the album with Black Bard and Killer Mike and
Lil Wayne and Thames.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And such a good group that you picked.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Like amazing. Everybody really added something special to it. All
the producers did great remixes and it all feels really good.
And then we've just been out on the road celebrating
with everybody, and and I just love like connecting with
my fans that have been with me since the beginning,
and and they'll tell me, like, you know, this got
me through high school, got me through college, got me
(02:19):
through this relationship, yes, exactly, And just knowing that we've
been a part of people's lives for that long is
really special.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Wedding videos.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh yeah, all the time on Instagram, Like I'm always
getting feeds of you know, my song being used for
this or that. And you know, it started with Getting Lifted,
so we had on that album, we had Stay with
You and so High that people used a lot for weddings,
and then of course All of Me has become one
of the biggest wedding songs of all time.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Have you ever done All of Me at a wedding?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Who's wedding?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I mean it's been expensive to get me to
do it. It's got me really expensive, but yeah, it's
like a home Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I've done it a
few times.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
People you knew were just like people who just could
afford it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
People who could you know who I knew. I did
it at Kanye Kim's wedding because that was right after
we got married, right when All of Me came out,
and then Kanye was at that wedding. He was got
inspired and was like, I want to do my wedding
in Italy too, and and so they got married like
nine months later, and he was obsessed with All of
(03:24):
Me too, because he was executive producing that album that
it was on and we didn't write that song together,
but he was just obsessed with that song. And of
course I did it at their wedding too, So that's
one of the few weddings of like a friend of
mine that I did it at, and then I did
Gabby Union and d Wade's wedding. But at that point,
(03:45):
all of me was so ubiquitous that they were like,
can you do another song.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Else?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So we did You and I for that one, which
was on the same album.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But does it hit differently for you? Because even songs
that we like and know and like iconic songs some
time in those moments, they just hit dimmer. Oh yeah,
I can't imagine you being eat, whether Gavin or even
Kanye's being in Italy and watching two people and you
are singing the song.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It has it's special.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Feel, the feeling of it, I mean, what is that
feeling that most of us could never really experience.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Especially well, the first time I sang it in front
of an audience was literally at my wedding. So we
got married in Italy and if you look back at
the music video, we shot it there that week of
the wedding at Lake Como, and then I sang it
live on the piano at the reception, and it was
a moment, you.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Know, are you a mess inside? Is she a mess inside?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Well, some tears were shit, I didn't cry in that moment.
She cried the first time she heard it. And I
when I sang it to her the first time, I
had just come home from the studio and I was like,
you're gonna love this song. I wrote it for you
and we were engaged by that point, and she cried
the first time she heard it. Yeah, so sweet.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I can only imagine those moments. How beautiful is
that to have? I mean, that's just that's just one song,
but even like the first album and all of these
amazing moments in your career, Like just how special that
you get to experience the world in that type of way.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And like a lot of my memories are tied to
what song was I writing at this time, What song
was I touring with at this time? What album? And
so yeah, these albums they mark like moments in your life,
and and so much of it has been beautiful and
celebrating love and and and like connection. And so when
(05:39):
I go through the songs and think about where I
was in my life at that time. It just brings
back all these memories.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Is one of the hardest because you talk about writing truth. Yeah,
what is like the hardest truth you've had to put
in a song?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, you know, I I've written about my family and
I've talked about my family too and some of the
episode downs that we face. And actually Ordinary People wasn't
a based on my own relationship. It was based on
my parents and the up and down situation that they
were in because they had gotten divorced when we were kids,
(06:13):
when I was like ten eleven years old, then they
got remarried when I was graduating from college, then they
got redivorced when Get Lifted was being written. So I
was literally writing Ordinary People about the ups and downs
of my parents' relationship. And we went through a lot
as a family just dealing with them and they're back
and forth.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Because it's not just their up and down.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, because we had all how to experience it. And
when I was writing Ordinary People, that's what it was about.
That's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
But you would think as kids you'd be happy, like
if your parents get back together.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's stressful. It was like, are we going through this again?
Put us through this again, and we were like happy
for them that, you know, they seem like they had
read like fallen in love and all this stuff, but
we also remembered how stressful it was for everybody before
and we're like, please, don't let it be stressful again.
(07:04):
And turns out it was stress And now they're both remarried.
I have stepfather and stepmother and they're both lovely, and
I feel like they both found the person that they're
going to, you know, truly, you know, grow old with.
And so I'm happy that both of them found that.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
What is that do to Like, So when you grow
up with that type of up and down, what does
that do to you as a husband? Like, how does
that show?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It can go either way because I've seen it in
my siblings where I feel like it can make you
like hesitant to want to be in love with somebody
and make that commitment. It can erode your trust. But
for me, I feel like it's done the opposite. It's
made me like want to make sure that Christy and
(07:50):
I don't do that. It's like been an example of
what not to do.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, that's with anything, right, Yeah, your parent is alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And some people never ever, some people go off in
a way and some people end up following their footeps.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You know, So that's your goal, So that's your motivating as.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Part of it, you know, even as silly as it sounds, like,
we'll watch like reality TV and see families going through
divorce and we're just like, that cannot be us. I
love that you know that you're so clear like we
are staying together. That that's like when we watch that ship,
we're just like, nah, not us.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
People hear that, though, and then they assume it's just easy, right,
and people say.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's not easy. But I feel like it doesn't have
to be as hard as we make it too. And
I give us the trick for that.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Then, because for most people it's really hard.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I think. One, you have to be fortunate enough to
like fall in love and marry someone that you really
are like supposed to be with. Choose well, Yeah, so
choose well. And I feel like we really chose well.
Like we have great chemistry and it's not just physical.
It started out as physical, but we really just vibe
really well together. We respect each other, love each other,
(09:01):
support each other, have each other's back, and we like
hanging out with each other.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That's a good like foundation to start with. But you
also have to be mindful and you have to work
on yourself and work on like whatever your bad habits
are and your bad relationship habits are, whatever they.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Are, like us, want to share one that you had
to learn.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, I have to be like more emotionally available, like
because I'm very like I'm so like chill and stoic
all of me, but I'm also so like I'm just
like some people call me a robot, Like I'm so
like emotionally like even kill. And I think that works
(09:42):
for a lot of situations, but sometimes you need to
like like show some emotion, show some passion, and so
I've had to do that. And I think another thing
is like I always want to fix everything, and like
if Chrissy's going through something and she like complains to
me about it, she's dealing with it, Like I'm always
(10:03):
skipping straight to how do I fix it? But sometimes
you just need to like let the person vent and
like it to therapy you, Yeah, exactly, Like you can't
just be like I'm just fixing everything. You have to
like actually like commiserate with them and allow them to like
say their piece.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
You know, we just did Cynthia Rebo Actually yeah, and
she would talk. We were talking about love and relationships
and how challenging it is for people because you have
to grow and you're not the same person.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You were level years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So while you're growing and she's growing. Yes, that sometimes
causes uh, you know, distancing people. They don't give the
other the room to grow. And I always find that
part fascinating. And you have to because you want to
hold on, yeah, because you love somebody, But then also
you kind of let let people be.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You have to let people evolve, and they're going to
like try new things. They're going to like, we're both
creative people, and like you want to like encourage each
other's create and exploration and entrepreneurship, all of it. Like
you just want to you want to be supportive of
all of it. I feel like some couples there's jealousy
(11:12):
of other people's success, like like they feel like quietly
they're competing with each other. And I've just never been
like that, Like I want her to win at everything,
and I'm not like keeping score of who's doing better
at this or that, Like I just truly want her
to win all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
I think also too, sometimes it's like a possessiveness, like
like you represent me and I represent you. So if
I don't like, what if you dye your hair blue
and I think it's hideous, Yeah, it makes me look bad.
I think some of that goals.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
You got to let people be their own person, You.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Gotta let people rock, right. Yeah, I saw this somewhere
where you were talking about how your dad taught you
how to be emotionally.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, he was such He's always been so romantic, Like yeah,
he's like truly like he was like to open the door,
go out on a nice date. And for him, you know,
it was like red Lobster, literally she's business. But for
us that was like a big deal. But like he
was just always such a gentleman. And I really think
(12:16):
we all like he raised three boys and a girl,
and all the boys just learned like this is how
you treat a woman. And so I'm grateful for him
for that, but also grateful for him for just showing
us how to be a great dad too. Like he
was so energetic and full of like he would just
like do the treasure hunts around the house and like
(12:37):
little games and like fun things. Yeah, he was like
truly present and also like he enjoyed being a dad,
Like he took a lot of pride and like being
like a fun, cool dad that we enjoyed hanging out with.
And so I feel like I was influenced by him
for that too.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, because there's a lot of talk about like men
and boys, especially as father's teaching sons, but just emotional intelligence,
how to communicate emotions, feel emotions in a healthy way,
all those things. I do wonder what you tell your
(13:16):
your kids.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, they have no problem communicating their emotions right now,
big feelings. You got a house full of feelings, house
full of feelings. My oldest is nine, Luna, and then
Miles is seven, and then we've got two that are
two years old, SD and Wren, And it's all feelings.
The boy oh yeah, oh yeah, feelings, And he's comfortable
(13:43):
expressing feelings. Yeah. And you know when he's mad, you'll
know he's mad. But he's also like so joyful and
like loving too.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That just happened because how they do is that something?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I think it's hormones. I think it's uh, we're seeing
it because he, you know, has a bunch of male
friends at school and they're all like so energetic, and
they'll tackle each other and hug each other. It's like
it's all just big yeah, like the same the same
dude will hug him and tackle him within five minutes
(14:15):
and and so it's just I think it's just that
time in their lives where they're just full of like
energy and emotion and exuberance and you just wanted to
channel in the right way, but you also got to
let them just be be a kid.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I love how intentional you guys have been about creating
your family.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Oh man, And it's been fun. Honestly. The house is
like so fun right now. It's like this age is
really fun. Like none of them are adolescents yet, so
I feel like I'm scared of that era, but this
era is fun.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I would love to talk about the family, just the
intention about how you put your family together. Yase, you know,
people find family by surprise. Yes, people have, people are adopted.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
We have happy accidents and happy accidents and then sometimes
I'm so happy accident exactly figure it out and so
we use IVF. So it's crazy because the only kid
we conceived naturally we lost in a miscarriage, and so
it was scary ever trying to do it naturally again
because it was like, that's the only one we lost.
(15:25):
And when we did IVF, it worked out so beautifully
and it allowed us to kind of time when we
could have the kid and work with our doctor and
make sure everything was healthy and right. And so it
really did work for us. IVF did work, and we
have four beautiful kids from him.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Do you feel like there's a greater appreciation. I'm not
to say that people are appreciative of their children, but
like when you work that hard to intentionally put a
family together, like.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I think, I think everybody loves their kids, and hopefully
everybody loves them unconditionally and purely. But you know, when
you do work that hard, it just makes you even
more appreciative of what you have. And also I think
it made us on the political side, not to get
too political, but think about like what it means for
(16:12):
a woman to be able to decide when they can
have kids and how important that is for a woman,
for her family, for everybody involved that you have control
over when that happens in your life. So it made
us I think even more politically, like yo we are
for we are pro choice all the way, and we
(16:35):
want to be like intentional about fighting for other women's
rights around the country and around the world to be
able to make that kind of decision that we made.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
How do you navigate through that? Because it is so
much I know, we don't have to get so political. Yeah,
but you are. You have always been very active and
very vocal about your opinions, and just now is the
time in the world is like nothing we've ever seen.
And so how are you balancing that? Like in your
real life? How are you?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
It's wild. It's wild because part of you is like
life is great, Like I have a great family, I'm
in a great house, I get to go on beautiful vacations,
Like life is beautiful for me. I'm making art that
I love and I'm proud of, Like there's so many
amazing things. But at the same time, you feel like
the country's falling apart, the world's falling apart, and it's
(17:21):
hard to think, like, well, what does that mean? Like
am I supposed to be like am my feelings about
it all the time? Am I supposed to be posting
about it all the time? Or am I like just
supposed to enjoy my life, because my life is wonderful,
like in our little cocoon, like everything's going great, and
so part of me is like torn on how much
(17:43):
to focus on all the bad shit that's going on
in the world versus just focusing on what I immediately
control in my family. And so, yeah, that's a dilemma.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I feel that very deeply.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, And I think the way I've resolved it is
continue to focus on, even on the activism side, what
you can control, and right now, like I can't control
what's going on federally, but I can stay involved in
my community, stay involved on a state level, and so
like all the activism stuff that we do is really
local in state, so in California, in LA, but also
(18:19):
in other states. Controlling what we can control and not
focusing on, you know, what we can't control.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Do you say, do you have like a limit on
the news cycle?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I pay plenty of attention to it, probably too much,
And like I said, it can be hard because it's
like my life is great, but like the world feels
like it's falling apart a lot of times, and so
I want to stay connected to the news and I
don't want to just be like, let me just ignore it,
(18:49):
because I don't feel like that's a great way for
me to be in the world. I feel like I
still need to know what's going on and to stay
involved wherever I can.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Are you, I don't know, worried? Do you have fear?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
And I'm worried. I'm worried when the government can just
kidnap people and send them to another country without any
due process, like that should make all of us worried.
It doesn't feel like it would happen to me, but
it feels like it could happen to somebody in my community.
Like I live in Los Angeles and we have a
lot of people who come from Mexico, from Ecuador, from
(19:26):
El Salvador, from Guatemala. There's so many people that they look,
you know, a certain way if you're profiling and you
know there And basically that's what the ICE agents are doing.
They're going through looking for people who look Hispanic, and
whether or not they have due process or warrant or anything,
(19:49):
they're just snatching them up. They were literally we were
notified by our kids preschool that they were going through
the parks and swooping up the park. Jesus and making
the kids sit there in the back of the van
until their parents came to pick them up, and they
would snatch up the nannies and they snatch up the
(20:10):
guys doing day labor, you know, at the home depots
and things, and like that is traumatic for a whole
community to go through that, and it could happen to
people that we're friends with, people that we know. And
that's why I was saying before the election, I'm like, yo,
like beware, like this is what they're promising to do,
(20:31):
and like they're they're telling you.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Still big surprise.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, they're telling you, this is what they're promising to do,
and so vote accordingly. And I feel like a lot
of people just didn't believe that. They thought it happened
to somebody else. But it's happening to a lot more
people than somebody else.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Here we are, Yeah, I asked you that because I'm like,
my mother's like watch she could just watch it from
the mornings the night. I'm like, this is I can't
overdose on it, but not healthy. It's still healthy. Yes,
we want to be active and we want to be aware,
not just aware, but we want to use our like
you said, our resources, our platforms, but also there's like
a balance of keeping yourself sane. Do you have a
(21:09):
thing that you do? Like what is you're saying when
you feel out of overwhelmed? Like what do you find
your Saturday? Do you have any rituals? Do you meditate?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
What do you meditate? But I gotta say, I'm probably
the most naturally like person. What is that?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Explain that? How do you do it? How does it happen?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
My dad is like that too, so I feel like
I inherited it from my dad in a lot of ways.
But I'm just very chill like like what you see,
Like I've got monk vibes. I really do, and it's natural.
I think it probably like Chrissy's just amazed by it
sometimes because she's very more dynamic exactly, She's more dynamic
(21:51):
and emotional and like and more spontaneous, and I'm just like,
that's why you work. I'm super si. Yeah. We compliment
each other well.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Always because I'm by the way, I'm like fascinated with
monks and Buddhism and things, because I always I think,
what a beautiful way to live life without too many highs,
too many lows, like keeping this nice. But then I think,
if you don't, are you not fully experiencing the high?
Exactly I'm gonna say, if you're saying right here, ya,
are you experiencing the high?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
I think you gotta. Like I was saying before, it
take time to celebrate wins. You've got to like enjoy
your life. And I think when I when I was
starting out, I was so focused on I gotta make money,
I gotta do this, I gotta do that that like
you forget like, well why am I trying to make money?
Like what am I doing this for? And I feel
(22:44):
like at this phase of my life, I'm more focused on,
let's actually enjoy the moments in life. Yes, and uh,
And so I feel like I've grown to focus more
on like truly enjoying these moments with my family, with
my loved ones, with my friends, and actually just having
a good time, because like, what is all this work
and success for. If you can't enjoy it, you must.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Have chosen Well, I know you've chosen a good wife,
not a perfect nobody's perfect. A good wife for you. Yeah,
you probably chosen good friends.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, what do you what do you?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
What do you tell people about that? Like what will
you teach your kids about how to choose the people
in your life, whether it be friends or relationships or well.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I've been lucky that a lot of my friends are
from before I was famous, and people I worked with,
people I went to school with, Like I didn't get
a record deal till I was twenty five, so I
had kind of lived some of my young adult life.
And a lot of my closest friends are people that
I knew from prior to the fame. And I think
(23:46):
that's helpful to keep me grounded. And you know, my
prior life, I was like an Ivy League student, I
was a management consultant. So my friends are like people
that work in finance and our professors smart pants, and
so it's like an interesting group of friends to have
because like it intellectually challenges me, and like our group
(24:10):
chats are are like interesting, We like talk about interesting
things about what's going on in the world and all
the political stuff that interests us. And your smartest friend,
smartest friend, well, and I have a feel like and
what have you learned from them? Some of them, Like
one of my friends is a professor and she's amazing.
I went to college with her. One of my friends
(24:33):
is a very successful like investor, and so I learned
from all of them. Like I learned about the money
side of the world, I learned about kind of more
of the activism and intellectual side of the world. It's
good and uh and I think they challenge me in
some ways. It makes my art better. Yeah, really, yeah,
I really believe.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That your art is not just emotion.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
It's I feel like, like my friend that is a
professor she uh, she also writes for The New York Times.
So I feel like having a friend like that makes
me like Sharper artistically.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
They say that, right, yeah, Sharp and Steel. I have
some in real life questions. All right, we want to
know how to go through this this life, John, And
you've done pretty well for yourself, all right, this in
real life, both in real life. Pick one, pick a
good one, pick a good one. And I have others
just quick questions. Here we go things about life.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
If you were the leader of the world, what's the
first thing you would do. I feel like we could
solve poverty if we make the right investments. And really, yeah,
like in our lifetime, yeah, we we we make choices
that make it so we don't solve poverty when if
we made the other choices, we we could actually do it. Like,
(25:54):
you know, even in the in the US, like a
very simple policy decision by and made that expired was
the earned income credit for a child tax credit basically,
so everybody with a child got a little extra money
and it took like millions of people out of poverty,
(26:17):
just that simple decision. Uh, and it got rolled back
when it expired. But like, that's a choice, it's a
policy choice, and it could take millions of people out
of poverty if we did it, you'd bring it back,
bring it back.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
What's one part of parenting that no one warned you about.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
I feel like I got a lot of warnings about
a lot of things. I'm trying to think what no
one warned me.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I just had this conversation. I was a guest on
Michelle Obama's podcast, and we talked about like, no one
told me that I would be worried about somebody for
the rest of my life. It's not a small thing.
Like inserting that level of concern into your life every
day for the rest of your life is not a
(27:04):
small shift.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, that's real.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I mean, insert joy and love and all those other
things too, but that part nobody's ever warned me about.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Well, one of the interesting things now is there's all
this research and I think I just saw missus Obama
talking about it on her Instagram today. She's talking about
with the author of The Anxious Generation about social media
and the impact that it has on our kids, especially girls.
And I feel like like our parents just had no
(27:35):
idea like what this generation is dealing with that, And
now we've got social media plus AI and like, I
feel like it's all uncharted territory for like how kids
are supposed to be in the world, and what impact
is going to have on the kinds of jobs that
we should even encourage them to study for, and like
(28:00):
how they're going to write papers and read books and
and what kind of jobs are going to be out
there in the world for them. And then the social
media side, just the level of insecurity and anxiety that
it encourages and and all of it. And I feel
like our parents had no idea how to prepare us
because it just didn't exist when they were do we exactly?
And this author, you know, his name is Jonathan Haye,
(28:22):
and you know, we went to one of his talks
in La Oh. It was it was like we were
so we were at a good time in our lives
because our kids don't have phones yet and they're not
on social media yet, and so it's we we got
it in time to like listen and like be like, yo,
we're not letting them have a smartphone tell a certain age.
(28:43):
And I think it's like we said ninth grade or
something like that. I forget. But we made a pact
with other parents at the school and said, let's band
together because if one of us, you know, lets our
kid have a phone this early, then all the other
kids will be like, well she got one or he
(29:04):
got one, and so you have to It's called a
collection a collective action issue.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
And so did you start this? We did it as
a group, Like my wife was involved. She's a Girl
Scout mom and so it was her and like a
few of the Girl Scout moms that started it. And
then we did it with the whole third grade, which
is our oldest grade.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
So no phones, yeah till the ninth grade.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, and then no social media. I think they say
until you're like sixteen or something.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
No Instagram, no Snap, any of that. And they say,
you have to be really mindful of group chats because
a lot of the group chats are where the bullying
happens and like the you know, excluding and ostracizing people,
and you just got to be really mindful of all
of it. And I think they're learning so much about
(29:50):
the effect that it has on kids that we can
benefit from all the things that they're learning and the
previous generation didn't know.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Are your kids pushing back on any of that.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
No, they're good so far. But I feel like, wait,
so Luna is like eleven or twelve, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
See, are you prepared to stand?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yes, We're gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And what is the benefits What do they say to
the benefits of that.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Well, it's just like their attention span in class, just
reading a book, you know. Just think of how there's
a whole generation of kids that like it's hard for
them to focus on anything like a book a movie
because they're so like and like, when your brain is
trained to do that, especially at this age, when your
(30:42):
brain is still being formed and your habits are being formed,
it's not a good thing. And then the AI thing,
like that's a whole nother.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Yeah, wear you with that because it's giving me a
bit I love it in so many ways. It's helped
me to like projects ideas, helps me kind of like
formulate ideas really quickly. I also have a little anxiety
about it because it is so fast that you start
to feel that feeling of like I need to be faster.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, And like do you feel like, are any of
our kids going to like read the whole book or
they're just going to get AI to tell them what
it was about? And are they going to write any
more papers themselves or.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Like but should they too?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
That's a good question, Like we don't know, and we
don't know what the like the side effects of all
that are going to be on on my kids development.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
One of my kids was working on something they're not
allowed to use AI, and I thought that I don't
know that that's either right but when it's not realistic,
and I also don't think it's the smartest way to
look at it because AI is here, it's happening. Yeah,
so we can tell that. We could say, hey, don't
use that, they're still going to use it, or we
can say how can you use that smarter? How can
(31:49):
you use that better than everyone else is using how
can you use you know, so, I don't know, it's tricky.
I just wonder how you guys managed that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Well, the kids aren't really on it yet, so but
I think by the time the high in high school,
like it'll be so it'll be so robust and it's
be so there that I think that's what teachers are
going to end up doing is saying, well, how do
you use this properly in a way that actually stimulates
you learning? Uh that you can put your own creative
(32:17):
spin on anything and still be like a creative person,
but get kind of the extra support from AI.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
John Legend, h could you go into AI right now
and ask it to write a John Legend song?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I think, yeah, they're apps to do that. Yeah you
want to try, Well, who's the right app to do it?
Because I haven't used that, you know. I sat down
with one of the companies early on when they were
like kind of beta testing, and I was like, I
(32:55):
don't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yet they did it for me too, were trying to
read commercials in my voice. It's not the same thing.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, And uh so for now I feel like we're
safe as as songwriters, but I do feel like even
as a songwriter, it can give you a bunch of
ideas and then a lot of them are crap.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But like, what should the song be? What should the hook?
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Can you? Let's decide what do we want to write about?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
How do you? Well? How do you normally?
Speaker 2 (33:23):
How do I usually start with the music and then
build off of that. But this time, let's say, let's
write a John Legend love song, hook a hook or
whole like yeah, of courus chorus, if it'll if it?
Don't know what that means, professing undying love to his wife.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Oh my god, the fact that that's what you think of,
profssing undying love. I'm spelling everything wrong, But he understands me.
Mine is called g Is it gonna to sing it
to us? I don't know, we're going to see.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
I think there are apps that actually will sing it
to you if you tried this. The one I was
doing was a beta test, and it could use your
voice if you gave it permission to. So for the
beta test, they used my actual voice for it. But
I don't think any company could just do that because.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
They got the song is called every time I say I.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Do every time I say I do.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
You could kill that? I hear you a love letter
and lyrics from John Legend and Christy.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Oh here we go.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
I've said I love you a thousand ways, in burnt toasts,
mornings and get away days.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I don't see that I don't try AI in this
why I'm not worried about my job security.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
In the silence when you fall asleep, and in the
chaos when the baby scream. You've seen my soul in
every shade, from my Sunday best to my worst mistakes,
and somehow, even when I lose my way, you still stay.
This is not terrible, John, It's not terrible. Where's the
eye do part? It comes to the chorus.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Okay, here's the chorus.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So every time I say I do, I mean I
choose this life again with you, through every storm, every
high and low. You're the reason. You're the home. You're
the melody I fall into. So every time I say
I do, I do.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Okay, I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at
that chorus.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Now you would have to put melody to and not have.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
To massage it and.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
All the things you do. Do you think this is
something you would ever play around with?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Well? I think there are plenty of songwriters already doing it,
so like it's happening.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I have John Legend.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I haven't done it yet, but I feel like that
would be a starter to you. That would be a starter. Yeah,
that would be a starter for a song. And then
I would make it better. You'd have to make it better.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
So you still believe in us as humans and our
God given talents absolutely over that.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, And and but I think what AI does is
what just happened, is like it gives you enough of
a starter for an idea that you can massage and
edit and humanize.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And it gives you no anxiety.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
That doesn't give me anxiety. And I think the reason
why is because I know I add so much humanity
and like experience and art to songwriting and I've been
doing it for such a long time that the AI
is just not going to duplicate it in that way.
But it can give you ideas and get you going.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah for sure, Sure, where does that gift? What is
your relationship like with that gift?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
But to get the songwriting? First of all, I truly
love it, Like I get so much joy, like pure joy.
It's amazing, Like I just wrote a song the other day.
It was for a film, and so I had kind
of a clear like direction where I was going, and
I wrote it in like two or three hours, and
(36:55):
I was like, I am so lucky that I get
to go go to work create something that did not
exist before, and be like genuinely proud of it. And
it's a brand new thing that is this in the
world that didn't exist before. Like, I feel like that's
an amazing gift to have, totally, and I like every
day I pinch myself that I get to do this
(37:16):
for a living.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Okay, damn we started this, But I think I know
this answer. On a scale of one to ten, how
happy are you today, I'm like, I'm real good. I
feel that from you. Yeah, I feel like I almost
didn't need to ask.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I feel very happy. But like I said, I'm like
reading the news, so I'm like, I'm so happy in
my own life and everything that's going on in my
own life. But it is sad when I read the
news and see like death and war and you know,
the government kidnapping people, So like I can't be at
(37:48):
a full ten because it's still in the back of
my mind the world. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, but you're operating pretty high up there. Good for you.
In real life? What do you pray for most?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I just pray for my family, Like I want them
to be healthy and safe and and you know, when
you have four kids, I guess, like like you were
talking about before, it gives you something to always be
worried about the rest of your life for yeah, and
so you know, like so I think the most constant
(38:22):
prayer is just that my kids are healthy and happy
and and and and also like beyond like just surviving,
Like you want them to like genuinely be happy and
thrive and find something they love to do and are
fulfilled by and all that good stuff. And they got
some time to figure that out. But you want all
that for your kids.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
And you've experienced the other part of it. You've come
up out of it and even honest about grief.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And yeah, it was a tough time. It was really tough.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Ye How do you pick yourself back up from that?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well, you need each other and you need to support
each other and then therapy. You gotta talk about it.
You got to have love around you. And I think
it helped that we had the kids that we have,
you know, because you remain like so grateful for them
and are so appreciative of what they mean to your life,
(39:17):
and so it helps you kind of get through the
loss because you know you have something to continue to.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Live for, so focusing on what you have right.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Okay, when was the last time in real life that
you cried from gratitude?
Speaker 2 (39:33):
Oh? Today, it was recent. I think it had some
of you with my kids, that man, having kids makes
me kids. I'm a softy about my kids. Like I
was never like a crier, I told you, I'm emotionally like.
I was never a crier until I started having kids.
And like, it'll be like just the little things with them,
(39:56):
when they make me proud and when they say something
that like reflects on like our teachings to them, and
they're like kind to each other and like and you
just feel like, oh, they're actually listening so what we
try to indoctrinate them with. And you see that manifested
(40:16):
and it's a beautiful thing and that does make me
cry sometime. Yeah, you are emotions.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
You are not a robot.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
I'm not a robot all the time.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
And your name is legend, But how often do you
think about your legacy?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
I think about it. And I think during this season
of like celebrating Get Lifted, and I've been telling my
story a lot more Like before this Get Lifted tour,
We've been doing a Songs and Stories tour that was
just me solo, so it's like a one man show.
I was telling my story, playing songs and piano, going
back and forth.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Beautiful.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
And this whole era of my life has been in
some ways about reflecting on everything that I've done so far,
and at the same time, I'm creating new music. Album
is gonna come out next year, and so I'm never
like just resting on what I did before. But I'm
also like genuinely celebrating my legacy right now and then
continue to try to build another chapter of that legacy.
(41:13):
So I do think about it. And you know, Legend
was a nickname. It was first started by j Ivy.
He's a spoken word artist from Chicago, and he was
in the studio with us with me and Kanye. We
were making College Dropout and he started calling me the Legend.
And you know, at this time in my life, I'm
not signed yet, I'm not a legend by any stretch,
(41:35):
no imagination, and I'm like how are you gonna call
yourself legend? Well, you don't even have a record deal.
But it gave me something to like aspire to, to
live up to, and so it made me even more
so think, well, I need to make a legacy this
worthy of me deciding to go ahead and call myself
(41:55):
this as a stage name. Like, if you're going to
call yourself John Legend, you better come correct. And so
I've been trying to build a legacy that's worthy of it.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
What do you hope people that like take away from
your life? Like if you have to think about like
what people learn from.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
You, Well, I want people to feel the love and
the light in the music. I want them to connect
with it and make it part of their lives. And
we've seen that happen, you know already. Like I want
to make the world more beautiful, Like is that my
job as an artist is let's make the world more beautiful.
And I'm just going to keep trying to do that.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Oh I love that. Well done, sir, everybody in real life,
thank you.
Host
Angie Martinez
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