But Pharrell Williams had another idea for Legend’s signature baritone: Sometimes, let it do more talking than singing.
LOS ANGELES — Jay-Z once told John Legend, “You’re our voice.
The 16-track project, out Friday, marks Legend’s first full album with Williams after more than 20 years of friendship. LEGEND: Early in my career, I was signed to GOOD Music. Because they may bring new ideas to the table that you hadn’t tried before, that was his idea, and I think it really works. … That’s why you work with new people,.
LEGEND: I really want every project to be my best project. Every album to be my best album. That means continuing to push myself, continuing to challenge myself and not resting on all the work I’ve done before. That also means trying new things. Working with Pharrell on an entire album was something new for me. I’m writing for Broadway now. Just finding new creative avenues to continue to throw some more challenges into the mix and seeing what it inspires in my creativity. Kanye was very involved in executive producing all my albums, and so it wouldn’t have made sense for me to do a whole album with a whole other producer at the time. I’m more of a free agent now and able to just do whatever I want musically. My label, Republic Records, kind of lets me have free rein with whatever I want to do musically and wherever my muse takes me — no pun intended.
On his new album, “Muse,” Legend dials back his powerhouse vocals on certain songs, adopting a more conversational delivery at Williams’ urging. It’s a departure for the EGOT winner, whose piano-driven ballads like “All of Me” and “Ordinary People” have helped define his career for more than two decades. Recorded mostly at Williams’ studio inside Louis Vuitton’s Paris headquarters, it grew out of Legend’s appearance on Clipse’s “The Birds Don’t Sing,” which inspired Williams to build an album around his voice. In an interview with The Associated Press, Legend discussed Williams’ creative influence, Jay-Z’s memorable compliment and composing his first original stage score for “Imitation of Life,” an off-Broadway musical opening at The Shed in New York in December. Like in “Fireflies,” some of the delivery of the verses of the song is more like I’m orating, like I’m speaking, rather than like I’m singing a melody.
LEGEND: I think a lot of people know it and they acknowledge it to me. I think a lot of hip-hop fans know that these MCs bring me onto a song when they think that I’ll add something special to it. … I love that hip-hop is such a big part of my legacy and my body of work over the years.
Jay-Z one time came up to me and said, “You’re our voice.
