When Kanye West went on Twitter and showed his love for Trump, one of his very good friends, John Legend decided to text him to talk to him about the dangers of his actions. Kanye eventually ended up sharing the texts on Twitter which initially wasn’t appreciated by John.
Kanye West revealed a text message conversation from John Legend where the singer asked his friend to reconsider aligning himself with Donald Trump and his recent rhetoric. After being respectfully shut down by Kanye, the singer decided to call Ebro in the Morning show on Hot 97 this morning to discuss the situation. It’s no surprise that John Legend made a lot of sense during his conversation.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
I tweeted the John text to show that there are people around me that disagree with me and voice their opinion. I respect everyone’s opinion but I stand my ground.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
if you feel something don’t let peer pressure manipulate you
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
I really appreciate this dialogue with John Legend because I’m actually very empathetic. Im still the kid from the telethon. I feel when people think of MAGA they don’t think of empathy.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
I imagine there’s some comfort in imagining a future without racism and projecting that onto the present. Thinking if we just deny the truth, it doesn’t exist. If history is erased, we don’t have to deal with its consequences. However…
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
Far too many people don’t have the luxury of closing their eyes and ears. They feel it in their lives and can’t act like what they see and know doesn’t exist.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
They know their family was destroyed by deportation or incarceration. They know their loved one was denied safe harbor because of their religion. They know their son or daughter was shot because their skin color evoked fear
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
They see the statistics about black applications for real estate or loans or employment being turned away because their name was Jamal and not James
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
I love that great, brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future. But artists can’t be blind to the truth.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
The defining trait of Trump’s campaign and political profile was his embrace of white supremacy. He made it clear every time he spoke. Some serious cognitive dissonance to ignore that for the other x% you might find appealing. I guess I agree with >1% of anyone’s thoughts though
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
“Kanye when he talks about Trump, I feel like he is thinking about him more in as a marketing triumph,” said John Legend on the call. “Like, I think he sees certain aspects of himself in Trump. He sees how brash he is, and that he don’t give a f**k, nobody believes he was going to win, and with a simple message “Make America great again” defied all the odds and beat the establishment. I think that’s appealing to Kanye, and I understand why that’s appealing to him, and I understand what’s appealing about it. But politics isn’t just branding and marketing it’s actual policy and it affects people,” he continued.
John also went on to say that what Kanye is doing is not a joke and what he’s doing can actually affect people’s lives. “It’s not a game. This is people’s real life. And if you’re operating from love, and you’re operating from empathy, and you’re looking at what this man [Trump] is actually doing, and trying to do…I don’t see how you align yourself with that and say you’re operating yourself from love.”
Listen to the conversation below. Earlier today, Chance The Rapper issued an apology for his ill-timed comments in the situation.