Club Shay Shay - John Legend Part 1

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

John Legend joins Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a conversation that starts off with a surprise gift from Shannon to John to celebrate his 11th wedding anniversary with his wife Chrissy Teigen. John reflects on the challenge of buying gifts for his wife, Chrissy Teigen, including a memorable year when he gave her a cookbook and a crockpot. He shares the story of how they met during one of his music videos, how he hand-selected her for the role, and when he knew she was "the one." John reveals that Chrissy is the funniest woman he’s ever dated, has great values, and even though her personality is quite different from his, these attributes cemented the idea that she is "the one" for him. He talks about how they made their relationship work even though they slept together on the first date, a moment many couples struggle to get passed. Many consider John and Chrissy "relationship goals," and he discusses how they navigate the ups and downs of their marriage. John explains why it took them so long to get married, recalling his near-botched proposal in the Maldives due to airport security.   John reflects on his upbringing in a big family in Springfield, Ohio. John addresses false comments made by Donald Trump during a debate about Haitian immigrants in his hometown and how those statements created unnecessary conflict. Shannon recalls attending one of John’s concerts and being struck by the way John tells stories during his performances, with his father's influence being a major theme. The conversation turns somber as John discusses how his grandmother’s death deeply affected his family, especially his mother, who struggled with addiction afterward. John shares how being homeschooled and growing up with his cousins shaped him, how entering high school at age 12 and college at 16 made him feel smaller than his classmates, and why he gave up organized sports. He reflects on how lessons from his father helped him through personal struggles, especially during tough times with Chrissy.   John opens up about Chrissy’s life-saving abortion, which made him pro-choice as an adult. John talks about his son’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis and the challenges that came with it, especially after the repeal of Obamacare made insulin more expensive. He shares the story of how they discovered his son’s condition after he got sick at football camp. On a lighter note, John reminisces about a family trip to Lake Como and how they celebrated their love there, a theme captured in his song “I Don’t Love You Like I Used To.” The song title is meant to trick listeners but reflects his evolving love for Chrissy.   John reflects on his early career, working with Kanye West 20 years ago, and the strong artistic chemistry they shared. He reveals that he originally wrote “Ordinary People” for the Black Eyed Peas and that it was inspired by his parents. He discusses how the name "John Legend" came about, gifted by people in Kanye’s camp, and shares the story of negotiating with a musician and porn producer named Johnnie Legend to avoid a legal dispute over the name. John finishes Part 1 by talking about his work on Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.   #volumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Julian Edelman. I'm Rob Gronkowski. And we are super excited to tell you about our new show, Dudes on Dudes. We're spilling all the behind-the-scenes stories, crazy details, and honestly, just having a blast talking football. Every week, we're discussing our favorite players of all times, from legends to our buddies to current stars. We're finally answering the age-old question,

what kind of dudes are these dudes? We're going to find out, Jules. New episodes drop every Thursday during the NFL season. Listen to Dudes on Dudes on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake.

I've been a sports nut my whole life, and there's nothing I love more than talking about it. If you're a sports fan, Wake and Jake is the place for you covering all the hot topics from the sports world. A lot of baseball, a lot of postseason coverage, mock drafts, awards, guest interviews, all of it. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Come watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone. This is Jimmy O'Brien from John boy media.

I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's three things. Episodes come out every Tuesday and for 30 minutes, I dive into three stories in major league baseball that I want to talk about or I do a stat deep dive sometimes I create my own stats it gets weird it's now your go-to podcast for staying up to date and in the weeds with Major League Baseball no topic is off limits or too small bad umpires great pitcher catcher duos new rules old, three things that I want to talk about.

Listen to Jimmy's three things on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. He says they are poisoning the blood of America. So what he's saying is the ideal version of America is a white America and anytime brown people infiltrate America they're messing up the blood of America they're messing up the gene pool of America and that takes us back to Hitler that takes us back to eugenics that takes us back to folks who believe there's a genetic hierarchy that's racially determined. That makes it superior to the other.

Yes, and I just can't imagine, it couldn't be me, a black man voting for somebody who believes so deeply that black men are inferior to him. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle paid pay the price, want a slice Got the roller dice, that's why All my life, I been grindin' all my life All my life, been grindin' all my life Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price, want a slice Got the roller dice, that's why All my life, I been grindin' all my life Hello, welcome to another episode of Club CheChe.

I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club CheChe, the guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today. He really needs no introduction, but here we go. He's one of America's most versatile artists. He's one of the most respected and acclaimed singers and songwriters in the music industry. He's one of the most awarded musician of our generation. He's the first African American and one of the most awarded musicians of our generation. He's the first African

American and one of the youngest men ever to join the exclusive EGOT club, which means he's won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. He's won two Emmy Awards, 12 Grammys, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. He's also won the Golden Globe and an NAACP Image Award. He also has a star in the Hollywood Walker fame, a writer of some of the most world's most romantic ballads He's a gold multi-platinum diamond selling artists diamonds means he sold at least 10 million units He's in the songwriters Hall of Fame a talented celebrated accomplished pianist producer composer vocalist actor host poet entertainer music and choir director an international performer performer, an A-list celebrity, a soulful superstar, a dedicated and global humanitarian, a philanthropist, a gift to

the world, a fan favorite, an icon, a savvy businessman. He was a child prodigy. He's a proud dad. He's a loving husband. Let's give it up for the one, the only, Legend. Shannon, wow. That introduction, man. Man, I didn't know I was getting an introduction like that. Bro, we don't give people what they deserve. We give people what they earn. And everything that I read off this card, you've earned that. Thank you, sir. So I know you're very busy, John. We've been trying to set this thing up

for a better part of the year. I'm happy to be here, man. I'm a fan. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Bro, I want to toast. You say you haven't had my cognac, this is Chez Valaportier. Here we go. I wanted to toast you for everything that you've done, the great man, the great father, the great dad that you are, and everything you've done to help our community.

Cheers brother, appreciate you sir. Oh yeah, that's some good cognac. I thought you thought you was you I took a shot man Well, I thought but I clearly we not Let's put a little bit more So during the interview if I need to sip, you know, yeah, I have a little sip Man, man. All right. I mean it's a little early in the morning too, John. It's early. But I was prepared though, you know. Yeah, yeah. You used to have a little food before hand. Okay, so we good. Make sure the stomach's lined and everything. You know, John, I want to congratulate

you on your 11th wedding anniversary and I understand how important family is to you. Yeah. Your kids, your wife. And so I went shopping yesterday on Amazon. Scrolling through, I was like, what can you get the person to have everything? So I did come up with a gift. All right. I think you'll be very, very. You got the Amazon box? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I wanted to give you this. I went shopping on Amazon. Oh, this is good. We love this. This is great because it's got pictures of my family and it's digital. And I'm the yearbook maker in our family. Oh, really?

Every year for Mother's Day, I make a yearbook for Chrissy. So I'm always collecting the photos throughout the year in a folder on my phone. And then I edit it and send it to my guy. He makes a yearbook every year for the family. And so this is exactly how. So you know what? So I did pretty good, huh?

Yes, sir. Just right in my alley. So you know what? So I did pretty good, huh? Yes, sir. Just right in my alley. Since you are the gift giver, I read that in 2011, you got Chrissy a cookbook and a crock pot. After being with someone for almost two decades, does it get easier or harder to get gifts? Well, I've set the bar pretty high for myself. That wasn't the highest bar back then, but you know, I've gotten her some nice jewelry.

But I try to really know what she loves. And I think the more you know somebody, it's actually easier in that sense to get them a gift. But if you continually raise the bar, then you know, you got a high bar to jump over. Yeah, yeah. But let me ask you this, like, obviously, like, anniversaries and things like that, that's very important. So you're not trying to be funny.

But something like for her birthday, are you like, are you trying to be serious? Are you trying to be funny knowing that she has an incredible sense of humor? She does have a sense of humor. But I like to give her something nice, something special for her birthday, for her anniversary. And then we also like to just have fun. So

I talked to her about what kind of party she wants to have. And we try to just, you know, do stuff that appeals to her. Sometimes she just wants to sit in her robe and chill. One time we just had a pajama party at the house. And so I try to like think about what she would actually love. And she don't like a big hoopla a lot of times. Really? So she don't like a whole lot of people around. She likes it to be a more intimate setting She's just a more chill person And if she could get everybody to come over the house and watch Bravo with her and sit in her pajamas She'd be happy right now. We all know how the meeting took place. You met on one of your music video. Yes stereo

Did you request her or was the talent agency sent her? Well, it's funny because the music video wasn't even an official music video. It was something my friend, Nabil, he's a photographer and now he's a director. But at the time he was just a photographer, but he wanted to show people he could make videos. And he was like, John, I have this idea to shoot a video for you for this song I really like. And it wasn't a single, so we weren't putting a budget toward that video. And he just decided he wanted to shoot this video. And then he showed me pictures of this model he had just worked with. Okay. He was like, Do you think you want to cast her in the video? Okay. And I was like, Yes.

I saw the picture and I was like, Yes. Yeah, she was. And then so she got cast in the video and then we just hit it off. Soon as we started working together, we had chemistry and we started hanging out like literally after the video shoot and that was 2006. So it's been 18 years since we met. Right. So you, okay, you look at, he show you the book

and says, okay, I just worked with this one. I mean, there's someone that you think you could have chemistry with you work with and be worked great on saying, he's like, Yeah. But when did you know? I think I started to know, like a year, a little less than a year in, because our relationship started with us not being together in the same place a lot. I was living in New York, she was living in Los Angeles, and then I had to travel all the time. This is the beginning of my career, this is my second album, and I'm hustling. I'm traveling the world, I'm doing everything I need to do to get my career off the ground.

And she's modeling in LA and in Miami. And so we're not in the same place a lot, but the more we were together, I'm just like, we have chemistry. She's funny, she's beautiful. She's sexy. We have great like interactions with each other. She makes me laugh. She makes me have more fun than I would have without her. And I just started to fall in love with her. And that was about a year, like, almost a year in where I'm like, okay, this is something special. And so, you know, we started to act accordingly. And then I didn't propose till 2011 but

I knew I was in love before then How different is she from the women that you dated in your past? She's funnier than anyone I've dated before Always dated beautiful women, but yeah musician and singers always get the beauty but She was a perfect combination of like beautiful cool funny she has great values yes as a person and I felt like we aligned we're different in a lot of ways but our yes sense of humor aligns and there's certain things like taste wise where we

align and we're on the same page and then she's different enough to make me have more fun than I would have without her, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm kind of chill. You can chill, okay. Yeah, I'm kind of chill and she's obviously more dynamic. And I think having that kind of yin and yang in a relationship is actually good. Right, now a lot of experts says sleeping with someone

on the first date is not really conducive for a long-term relationship. Some people say that, but. But here we are, 18 but... But here we are. Here we are. 18 years later, here we are. 18 years later, here we are. Why do you think you guys have success?

Now, I've had a conversation with some women, and they say, Shannon, the type of men that are in the bracket that we're looking at, there's a scarcity. And they're not going to wait. Like, John, when you and I was growing up the thought of somebody sleeping on the first night was slim to none you had to wait a month two months three months yeah and they say the women and women men aren't waiting because there's so many out there that they can pick from so a woman says well I'm gonna make you wait three months you might wait he's not waiting That is true.

That is often the case. So exactly, you might not be ready to do that. But he might be if he's got options, he might be doing that while you're waiting. Exactly. You waited, but he's not waiting. Yes. Hello, I'm Shannon Sharp, and I'm a role sponsor. Do you want hotter, more spontaneous sex?

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For full safety information, visit ro.co. slash info. So people call you for relationship goals, John. How does that make you feel? Because like you said, you waited five years, and but now you seem to be the standard of this young, healthy relationship. You're so happy you got this loving family. And you do post a lot of your ups, you had some tragedies,

some trials and tribulations in your life, but you'll share that. How does that make you feel that you being so young? It's not like y'all been married 50 years, John. Yeah, you know, I feel like sometimes you hear folks talk about, oh, man, relationships are such hard work. And Christy and I will watch people say that. And if that's your story, if that's your experience, then that's what it is.

But for us, it's really not hard work for us to be together. And there's challenges that we've had, like tragedies that we've had to deal with together, miscarriage and other tragedies we've had to deal with together. But us, me and her, like, it's never actually been that hard for us to be in a relationship. And I think the reason why is it starts with a mutual respect and being with somebody you actually like and like to be around and respect and enjoy their company, enjoy their sense of humor. Like I said before, we're really compatible. Even though we're different, we're really compatible and we have a good time together.

And I think there are things you need to do to make sure you maintain that, which is being honest and trustworthy, being a person of good character, a good parent, a good co-parent, taking responsibility together. So there's certain things you have to do that are work. But I feel like if you are a person of character and you're with somebody that you love and respect, it shouldn't be such hard work to stay together. You mentioned you guys have been together for 18 years. You have 11, you just had celebrated your 11th wedding anniversary. So that means there are some time in between that you guys weren't husband and wife. Sure. What

took you so long? Because a lot of times women say, hey, I'm gonna give him a year, I'm gonna give him two years. If he ain't ask me the questions, I'm moving on. Well, you got to think, we were younger then. So, you know, I'm 45 now, but 18 years ago, I was still in my late 20s. She was in her early 20s. When I met her, she was 20 years old. And so like, she wasn't like, oh, I need to get married right away. So we're, you know, we're still young. And we didn't feel like there was a rush to get married. Wow. Yeah. And she was patient. You were patient. You're like,

Yeah, but we were enjoying life. It wasn't like she was waiting for a ring. It was like we were actually enjoying being together. And when I proposed, she was still a little surprised. Really? When I proposed, I proposed, we were on vacation in the Maldives. We got married at Lake Como and we were on vacation in the Maldives when I proposed and it was around Christmas time and- She had no idea? She had no idea. And I was trying to keep it a secret and I had gotten a ring and everything and I'd been working on it for a few months and I was like, I'm gonna wait till Christmas time when we go on this trip.

And I had the ring in my backpack and it it was a very nondescript package, but it was in a box, just a regular brown box, smaller version of this Amazon box. So I'm going through the airport, and to go to the Maldives at the time, you had to fly through Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is right by the Maldives near India. So we're going through the airport in Colombo and the TSA equivalent there wants to look

through my bag. Y'all about to ruin it bro. Yes. So I'm like, the box is in there. And I was like, they're going to make me propose here in this airport. They're going to open this box here in the airport. And I was just looking at them like, don't open it.

Don't open it. And they didn't open it. And we get to the resort. We're there for a while. And on our last night there, right before Christmas, I had them set it up so they bring it out with dessert, bring the ring out with dessert. They covered it up with some,

I didn't ask them to do this, but they did it anyway. They covered it up with like some lettuce, like with some leaves. I don't even know what plant it was, but it was leaves on top of the box. And then the box is uncovered and she was like, you know, she was in shock. She didn't expect it. Yeah.

Were you nervous? How long had you been thinking like, okay, this, this is the one. This is the woman that I want to be the mother of my kids. This is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. How long did that process, how long were you thinking about popping this question and were you nervous? You know, I felt like probably a few years in that I was probably going to marry her, but I didn't feel any sense of like, urgency, like I had to propose like right away. But

we were, we were together, we were living together, we were together. And I assumed we were going to be together forever. But then eventually I was like, you know, it's time, like I need to propose. And so I think there was a mentally preparing for that probably for like nine months. And then shopping for the ring probably for a few months, getting it all together. And then Christmas time, I was like, it's time.

When you were discussing Chrissy, obviously she knew who you were. And you're like, you want kids? OK, what do you see yourself in five years? What do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you want to get married? Do you want one kid? Do you want any kids?

Do you want five kids? You want a basketball team? What were those conversations like, John? She's always one of four kids. Four, OK. Yeah, and I grew up in a family of four kids. I'm the second of four kids. I had two brothers and one sister. I had two brothers and one sister.

I have two brothers and one sister. And so four sounded good to me. And so we were on the same page with four kids. And she loves to cook. She loves to have people over the house. And her dream has always been, I want to have grandkids. I want to have a family where every Sunday they come over to the house, we cook for them, we spend time together. Jewish families have

Shabbat on Friday nights, and then a lot of Christian families on Sunday, like Sunday dinner, get together after church. And that's what we did in my family. And Chrissy just has always dreamt of Sunday dinner with the family. And she wants that kind of family where everybody feels like the door is open, and the kids can always come back home and hang out with us and bring the grandkids when that's time. And she's always wanted that kind of family. And she didn't grow up in that kind of family. She grew up in a small family. And she always wanted that. And I was used to that. That was the way I grew up. I grew up with a big family. My mother's one of six, my father's one of five and we all

live near each other in Springfield, Ohio or in the surrounding area. And so I was used to that kind of energy, you know, our Christmases, our Thanksgiving's, our Sunday dinners, like we just had family all the time. And so I'm used to that. And then Chrissy wanted that and I'm like, let's go. Let's do it. Springfield, Ohio. Yes. Are the Haitians still eating the cassava? Oh, my Lord. You know, y'all if y'all saw my, y'all saw my Instagram video. And you know, if you watched the debate, you saw President Trump saying some slander about the people from Haiti that live in my hometown. And what's so awful about what he said was, one, it's not true. So to be clear, there's been no...

That is factually incorrect. ...complaints from the local residents that Haitians are doing anything like what they've been accused of. Two, they're legal immigrants to the country. They came here on protected status. And then three, it's a success story. The reason why they're in Springfield is because there are more jobs available than there used to be. Springfield was shrinking for years. When I grew up there, there were only, there were 75,000 people at its peak, there was around 80,000 people. And lately, before this boom in the economy and the opportunity there, it went

down to 58,000 people. So the city was withering and there was a lack of opportunity and people were leaving. And the reason why these Haitians were attracted to the city was because there were jobs there that needed to be filled. And that's a good thing. Great. It's a great thing that these manufacturing jobs and, and opportunities are there for folks that weren't there before. And Hey everyone, this is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's three things.isodes come out every Tuesday and for about 30 minutes I dive into three topics in major league baseball that I am interested in breaking stories trends stats

Weird stuff. Sometimes I make up my own stats Sometimes I do a lot of research and it ends up I was wrong the whole time So that's something you can get in on use Jimmy's three things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan you listen to me and then you go tell him hey I know this and you don't so I make you smarter than your friends that's what Jimmy's three things is all about listen to Jimmy's three things on iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find it on the Talkin' Baseball YouTube

channel and new episodes drop every Tuesday. Hey everyone, Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast Waking Jake. It's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports. Baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, college, whatever's hot in the street, we're talking about it on Waking Jake. So if you're a die-hard fan or looking for the latest buzz, we've got you covered. No matter your favorite sport, we're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us. Plus, we've got a bunch of guests.

Foolish Bailey, Jolly Olive, Chris Rose, and more. Mock drafts, rankings, whatever you want. It's the sports world and come on and join our friends in the Wake and Jake family. You will not regret it. So, new episodes Monday and Wednesday. You can watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen to Wake and Jake on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, James Brown, BB King, Miriam Makeba. I shook up the world. James Brown said, said love. And the kid said, I'm black and I'm proud.

Black boxing stars and black music royalty together in the heart of Zaire, Africa, three days of music and then the boxing event. What was going on in the world at the time made this fight as important that anything else is going on on the planet. My grandfather laid on the ropes and let George Foreman basically just punch himself out. Welcome to rumble. the story of a world in transformation. The 60s and prior to that, you couldn't call a person black. And how we arrived at this peak moment. I don't have to be what you want me to be.

We all came from the continent of Africa. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yes, there's some difficulty whenever you have folks that come from a different country, speak a different language, have a different culture, and they move to your city. And that's fine. But the folks in Springfield are dealing with it. We have a Republican mayor in Springfield. He's dealing with it We've got a Republican governor in Ohio. He's dealing with it. Everybody's cool and they're like we don't need y'all coming in Lyin stirring up stirring up stuff. They had bomb threats at the school

They had all kinds of nastiness KKK marching in the street, all this is caused by Trump and Vance lying, stirring up division and creating a problem that wasn't the kind of problem that they created. John, I went to your concert about a year ago and a lot of what we're gonna talk about today because I think you do a very good job. A lot of times before you play a song, you will tell the origins of that. You will tell what I was thinking, where I was and the place and how it came to be. Sometimes you do it afterwards. And what I wanted to ask you, because you have a very fondness of your father.

Yeah. And I want to know how much of the father you are is a direct tie to the father that he is. Oh, it's directly related to him. One, I think I inherited a lot of his personality. So I'm a lot like him. OK. And I think I'd be like him anyway, because we're just built the same way. So that's one thing.

But I was able to, one, my father stressed the importance of character with us. And he was intentional about teaching us what it meant to be a good human being, person of character, person of responsibility, person of integrity and honesty, someone that is trustworthy, and dependable, and accountable, all these things. He taught us what it meant to be a good man. And so he taught us that.

And my mother was a great mother as well, but she, after her mother died, she was dealing with mental health issues and then addiction issues. And so she was out of our lives for a while. So he had to be a single father for a while. And the way he stepped up to that occasion, knowing that he had to do it by himself with help from our extended family, but he had to do it by himself, seeing him do that and step up to the plate for us and always be there for us and show us what it meant to be a good man,

I'll always honor him for that and always look up to him for that. And I always say he's my role model when it comes to being a good father. I remember you telling the story. Yeah. In case you guys don't know, this man is a prodigy. He was homeschooled early on.

He got bumped up two grades. I think he graduated at the age of 15, 16. 16 from high school, yeah. Enrolled in college at the age of 16. And you had the ideal life, two-parent household, kids, church going. Your mom was the choir director, if I'm not mistaken. Choir director, yes. Your grandmother played the organ. Your father was a hardworking man, but he was in the church also.

You guys grew up in the church. And everything was perfect. Your maternal grandmother passed, which is your mom's mom. And it shook the foundation of the Legend family. Yeah, and my mother and her mother were very close. So they, like you said, one's the choir director, one's the organist. That means every choir rehearsal, they're together. Yes.

Leading the choir. They spent a lot of time together. They were very close. And it was shocking when my grandmother died. She was only 58 years old. And she had heart failure. And it really threw my mother. It threw her.

And we lost her for a while. We lost her for like 10 solid years. She was out of our lives. And she lost her for a while. Like, we lost her for like 10 solid years. She was out of our lives and she went to a dark place. And it was because she couldn't handle it when her mother passed away. And it really did shake our whole family. This happened when I was around 10 or 11 years old. And so I started going to public school for the first time after my mother wasn't able to homeschool us anymore And she was out of our lives for a while How difficult was that for you John because there's one thing? Okay your mom let's just say you're in Ohio Springfield, Ohio Yeah, and your mom's in Detroit. She's in Chicago. She's in New York

She's a thousand miles away, but if I'm not mistaken your mom was in the same city She's in the same city, but I was avoiding, like. You avoided, she avoided. I didn't wanna see her. Oh. Because it was hard. Yes. It's hard to see your mother, like, struggling with addiction. Struggling.

And like, she was so beautiful and so vibrant and so talented. She was singing at events all the time and just gorgeous. And then to see that light go from her and to see her addicted to drugs, it was very hard for me to see her. And so I avoided seeing her and focused on everything else but her

because it was too hard for me to see her. How did you stay focused? Knowing that your mom is going through something and there's something that there's, you can't do anything about it. She's gonna have to try to figure this out on her own, but you realize there's a bigger calling for John Legend. At the time John Steve was there, but it became.

Well, they gave us a great foundation. So my mother and father, them homeschooling us and giving us the foundation that they gave us, it actually made it so that we were able to cope better once she was gone. That doesn't mean it was easy, but at least, they had put so much time and preparation and intention

into raising us to be good young people that there was still that after effects of that lingering after she was gone. And then my dad did great work. And then I think our extended family did great work too. I had uncles and aunts that were near us that were part of our, you know, were part of our support system. You know, they say it takes a village. We had a village around

us. And then I had a counselor at my high school that was a black man. And I went to a majority white school and majority of the adults at the school were white as well. But there was one black man that was a counselor, and he took a special interest in me and my family, and he just mentored me. Neither of my parents graduated from college, so it was good to have somebody who was a college graduate that was mentoring me,

who was a black man that looked like me, and cared about my future, and didn't want me to slip through the cracks. And then I think because of what was going on with my parents and with my mother, it just kind of made me want to focus on something else. And music and school were the things I focused on. Right. How difficult was it being homeschooled? I mean, did you have a whole lot of friends?

I mean, you say your brothers and sisters were homeschooled, but after school was over, I mean, I don't know what time, how homeschooling worked. Yeah. You like, you get five hours of homeschooled, but after school was over, I mean, I don't know what time, how homeschooling worked. You like, you get five hours of homeschooling and you go out to play with friends that's close by or? So we grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of kids and I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of my cousins,

not too far from me. And so we would go in the backyard or around the corner and play football with them and basketball. And so we had a really nice family network around us, but I was a little shy. Like socially, you're not as used to dealing with a lot of different new people if you don't go to school. And so when I finally went to public school, I was shy, man. And the only reason that I integrated into like the social life of the school was music.

Because if there was a talent show, if there was a choir, if there was any opportunity for me to sing, I knew I could sing. And so that was the one way that I found it to like, introduce myself to people. Oh, that's the one who can sing. That's the young guy who's two grades ahead, but he can sing, you know what I'm saying? And so I would get to school. And that was my way of introducing myself to people. Even when I went to college, I was still two years younger than everybody and I was also from kind of a background that wasn't typical of a kid

at the University of Pennsylvania. Correct. So a lot of those kids were East Coast kids, they went to fancy private schools, a lot of them come from money, and I'm coming there from a blue collar family, from a small city in Ohio, and I had every reason to feel like I'm not one of them.

I don't belong. And music was my only way of like making myself feel a part of things and including in things. You said that you're two years younger. So you go to high school, what, you were 12 years old and a freshman in high school. My nickname was Doogie Howser. You go to college, you go to college, you're 16 years of age. So how difficult was it? Because first of all, the upperclassmen don't want to deal with freshmen that are 14, let

alone dealing with one that's 12 years old. When I went to college, I lied about my age. I didn't even lie that hard. Like I was 16 and I said I was 17. So I didn't want to feel like I was too much of a freak being there. So I just aged it up one year just so it didn't seem odd that I was there. I was just a little young.

But John, when people look at you, I mean, you're an adult now. I can imagine someone your size back then. You look young. And I'm 5'10 now. When I was in high school, I was 411 when I started high school I'm 411 12 year old I was tiny man and and you know, I was just behind in every like obviously I'm like 12 years old everybody else's 14. And so it's just it wasn't easy

No, did you did you play sports in high school or was was school was a school? Music was that I am a terrible athlete Now I love sports right like I watch the words. I I watch you all the time And I played all the time with my cousins and with my brothers but when it came to organized sports the last time I played organized sports was basketball in elementary school. And since then, I played for fun all the time, but I was never good enough. And also when you're two years younger, yes, like you're physically just behind everybody. And so I have a chance and they don't take that into account. Yeah. Okay. You're a freshman. You're right there. Freshman like you're being

measured on the same, you know. You're absolutely right. And you were telling the story that you and your dad are a lot alike. And he gave you the foundation to become the man that you became and become the father that you become. So obviously, he had to deal with something. His wife, for a long period of time, went through about a depression. And he kind of lost her for a while. They ended went through a bout of depression. Yeah.

And he kind of lost her for a while. They ended up remarrying and we'll get to that. So when your situation, Chrissy's struggling to have kids, was that the time that you leaned back and you thought about like, my dad, how would my dad handle this situation? Yeah, you know, I really, I think part of my journey has been forgiving my mother and learning that when trauma happens to people, when events happen in their lives, sometimes it's hard for them to recover and they go through mental health struggles. And people that are in their family, the people that they love, they need to have some grace

with them and help them through that. And so whenever Chrissy struggled with anything, I think I did learn from what happened with my mother. And she's also learned from what's happened with her mother too, because when her mother's mother died, she actually went through a similar thing where she disappeared from the family. She went back to Thailand, spent some time with her family there, and Chrissy lost her mom for a while after her mother's mother died. And so we've both been through a similar sense of loss of not having our mothers in our lives

for a while and seeing what their response was to their mothers dying. And so I think we've both learned from that. And we know we need to like double up when it comes to the energy and support that we give each other when we're going through tough times. You realize I mean you guys started dating she like she wants four kids you want four kids but it wasn't that easy. If I'm not mistaken I think three of the four kids IVF youth and the fourth was a surrogate Well actually four of five were IVF the only kid we conceived naturally was the one we lost baby Jack.

So all the rest of our kids are conceived through IVF. So that's tough. That's tough for a mom to have to go through that. Obviously, it is tough on you. So John, when you have to console your wife because you know how bad she wanted this child, what. What are you saying? Like Chris said, I'm sorry. There's not enough I'm sorrys. There's not enough. And the thing you got to realize is you're not going to solve the problem in that moment. And I'm a person that likes to solve the problem. I'm very like,

I want to solve it. I want to fix it. And sometimes you got to realize you can't fix it. Right. You're just going to have to live in it for a while and you're gonna get through it, but you can't fix it all of a sudden. There's no magical words you can say to fix it, but you need to be there. You need to be supportive. Right. And you need to work together to get through it. Right. Also that she had a life-saving abortion. Yeah. Is that why you're so adamant about the situation that the woman have the right, it's her body, her choice, and Roe V. Wade, what made you so upset that it got overturned after 50 plus

years? Absolutely. Now, I was always pro-choice. Actually, not always. I grew up in the church, and we were taught that we were supposed to be pro-choice. Actually, not always. I grew up in the church and we were taught that, you know, we were supposed to be pro-life when I was growing up in the church. But as soon as I became an adult, I just realized that we need that choice. We don't need the government telling us what to do. And women don't need the government telling them what to do with their bodies.

And life is complicated and there are all kinds of reasons why people might want or need an abortion and the government has no place in that decision. But then when we went through all these fertility struggles and then had a miscarriage, it made it even more clear to me how personal everything that happens in that room with your OBGYN, everything that happens in that room is private. And it's so intensely personal and intensely physical. A woman feels every aspect of this thing, forcing them to carry something for nine months that they don't want. A government doing that?

That's crazy to me. And then what people don't realize is when you say, oh, I'm fine with it as long as it's up to 15 weeks, people that have an abortion after 15 weeks, almost always they wanted to keep the baby, but there's some kind of complication that came up that they have to have an abortion. So my wife, she was well past 15 weeks when she had to have an abortion. She was miscarrying and bleeding out and all these things were happening to her. Her life was in danger. Her life was in danger and for the government to say, oh, we need to evaluate this to make sure you're sufficiently dying before you can have an abortion. That's what they're saying in Texas and in Georgia

and in all these states where they have Trump abortion bans. They're saying we need to, the government needs to evaluate whether you are sufficiently dying before you can have an abortion. Not your doctor, not you and your family, the government. No, stay out of it. Let these women, let them and their families and their doctors make these decisions. We don't need the government to be involved in it.

And if the government's involved, that means the police and the district attorney are involved in medical decisions. That's crazy. Right. It's crazy. I agree. And overturning Roe vs. Wade, Trump wants to claim credit for it, but at the same time be like, I just put it with the states.

Oh no, you put it with the states of Texas, a state of Georgia, of Alabama, of, you know, you put it with these states and, and by the way, that's where most black women live in the southern states in the south. So that means the majority of black women are in regimes that would rather possibly let them die before giving them the life-saving treatment that they need. You also, uh, one of your sons has type 1 diabetes, correct? Yes, mine. He got diagnosed.

Yeah. How's that going? He's going good. You know, obviously we have the resources and the support we need to take care of him. And you know, one of the things that I think about when I think about politics is the role that parents play in their lives, what it means to have a health concern with your kid. And we're very fortunate. We have the resources to take care of it. Right.

But insulin used to be expensive, and it's still expensive if you're not a senior. And one of the reasons I vote for Kamala Harris is because she's already limited the cost of insulin for seniors, and they're working to limit it for everyone below senior citizen status. So these kinds of things directly impact people's lives all around the country. And like I said, we can afford it, but most people can't. And so when people have these kinds of medical issues they need to deal with, this is important. And by the way, Obamacare made it so that if you have a pre-existing condition, which type one diabetes would be a pre-existing condition.

So if my son grew up and tried to get insurance under the old regime, he wouldn't have been able to get it because they'd be like, no, we know he's going to cost us money. Or if it'd be so high, he couldn't afford it. Yeah, exactly. It'd be like nah, we know he's gonna cost or if it'd be so high He couldn't afford it. Yeah, exactly It would be so high couldn't afford it and so the fact that they make it impossible for you to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions is life-saving and life-changing for a lot of people and the only reason you can do that is You increase the pool of people who are insured so that the healthy people help pay for the sick people

And so you have to have them in the same pool. And that was the genius of Obamacare that it did that and made it so they couldn't discriminate against people who have the preexisting condition. Will there ever be a situation where he won't have... Will he be able to... Could he possibly get healthy enough, John, where he wouldn't have to take insulin? You know, I just had a conversation with his doctor today and she said that's possible. And by the way, technology keeps improving when it comes to diabetes care. And so I hope for a day when he doesn't need to be on insulin. But for now he does, and lots of people do, and it overindexes with black and brown people.

And so we need a system where it's more affordable for everybody. How did you know, how did the doctors find out that he was diabetic? Well, he got sick. He was at football camp. He was at football camp and the whole camp got sick. So it was something in the food or the drink that they were having. And everybody got this disease. It's kind of like salmonella. It's called shigella. And so everybody got sick and he went to the hospital. We didn't know what it was at the time but he was one of the first people that got sick. But the whole, almost the whole camp got sick. So he goes there and they're

like, oh his blood sugar is really elevated. Maybe it's because of the infection but maybe he actually has high blood sugar. And they kept testing him and they did a resting blood sugar after a while and they just were like, yeah he's consistently elevated. His A1C is higher than normal. Hey everyone, Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake. It's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports.

Baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, college, whatever's hot in the street, we're talking about it on Wake and Jake. So if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz, we've got you covered. No matter your favorite sport, we're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us. Plus, we've got a bunch of guests. Foolish Bailey, Jolly Olive, Chris Rose, and more. Mock drafts, rankings, whatever you want. It's the sports world. And come on and join our friends in the Wakin Jake family. You will not regret it.

So new episodes, Monday and Wednesday. You can watch along on the Wakin Jake YouTube channel or listen to Wakin Jake on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone. This is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's Three Things. Episodes come out every Tuesday and for about 30 minutes I dive into three topics in Major

League Baseball that I am interested in. Breaking stories, trends, stats, weird stuff. Sometimes I make up my own stats, sometimes I do a lot of research and it ends up, I was wrong the whole time. So that's something you can get in on. Use Jimmy's Three Things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan. You listen to me and then you go tell him,

hey, I know this and you don't. So I make you smarter than your friends. That's what Jimmy's Three things is all about listen to Jimmy's 3 things on I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast you can also find that on the talk and baseball YouTube channel and new episodes drop every Tuesday. Muhammad Ali George Foreman James Brown BB King Miriam

the Kiba. George Foreman, James Brown, BB King, Miriam Makeba. I shook up the world. James Brown said, said hello. And Makeba said, I'm black and I'm proud. Black boxing stars and black music royalty together in the heart of Zaire, Africa. Three days of music and then the boxing event. What was going on in the world at the time

made this fight as important that anything else is going on on the planet. My grandfather laid on the ropes and let George Foreman basically just punch himself out. Welcome to Rumble, the story of a world in transformation. The 60s and prior to that, you couldn't call a person black. And how we arrived at this peak moment.

I don't have to be what you want me to be. We all came from the continent of Africa. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And so, we think he has type 1, and so we started going down the path. Last year you celebrated your 10th year wedding anniversary and you went back to Lake Como. Yes.

You and the kids. Yeah. And Chrissy. Why was that important for you to go back there? It was well first of all we loved our wedding and we had such a beautiful time there. We fell in love at Lake Como. So one of our first vacations together was at Lake Como and that's when I was like, oh, I'm feeling that.

Like it felt different. And so I was like, this is where we fell in love and it's a beautiful, magical place. If anybody can afford to go there, I suggest you do it. So we got married there and as we were coming on this first big milestone, 10 years, we have four kids now. And we were like, we want to do it again with this bigger family. And also we have people in our lives that we're really close to now that we weren't close to back then. And so it's nice to like include them into this moment too.

And then when we did it, we were so happy we did it because we basically did a lot of the same things we did before. We had it at the same venue and we had the same planner. But the biggest difference was having the kids there. You got four kids and that's just- Four kids there and we started crying when we pulled up to the venue and the kids are right there to greet us. That was that like sentence right there man. It was so special having that moment celebrating this milestone together. Everything we've been through

as a couple and then seeing the product of our love right there in front of us, it was beautiful, man. You sang, I Don't Love You Like I Used To at the event. What did that song mean to you? So that song is from my album Legend, and we wrote that song, because the title's kind of provocative. It's like, I don't love you like I used to. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

It's a breakup song. Am I reading this correctly? I don't love you like I used to. I'm like, what? Yeah, and the I love you like I used to. I'm like, what? Yeah, and the whole idea, once you listen to the lyric, is that it's stronger now. It's better now. It's deeper.

Yes. It's more tested. I love you more than I used to. It's more tested. And when you're tested through challenge and trials and all the situations you go through together as a family, it's something deeper and stronger. And that's what the song is really about. And it's a perfect song for anniversary, you know.

20 year anniversary of Get Lifted. That was your debut album. Yes, sir. How were you able to come out the gate so strong? You know, I think a lot of things came together at once. First of all, you know, together at once. First of all, you know, it was a great time for me and Kanye to meet. So we met in 2001. We were both unsigned at the time, but he had just started producing with Jay-Z and the folks at Rockefeller Records. And when we started working together, I just found that our chemistry, our combination of different skills and different influences, when it came together, it worked. Yes. And we made music that was really interesting

and different and special. And then he had just come out with College Dropout in February of 2004. So being signed to his production company and then being the first artist that came out under his production company, it was a great setup. So he's already succeeding. And I got signed almost right

after his debut album came out because all labels that had turned us down before, they turned us down. And it was the same demo. But when his album came out, so 400,000 copies the first week, oh, it sounded a lot better. So we played the same demo for him. But all of a sudden it sounded better. And then multiple labels wanted to sign me and all of them had turned me down before. And so I'm gonna call you a little more now. Yeah, cause of a little more. So sign with Columbia. But the setup was already really nice because of what happened with Yay.

And so his album came out in February, I got signed in May. My first single used to love you came out in February. I got signed in May. My first single, Used to Love You, came out in August. But then Ordinary People came out right around when the album came out in December. And Ordinary People was the song that really put me on the map. So you got to remember during this period, like nothing sounded like this on black radio. It was by itself, like when it came on, it made people stop. People told me all the time I stopped the car. I was like, what is this because it didn't sound like anything else on the radio and

It stood out as special and that really became my signature like I'm gonna sing that heartfelt Honest song about love a lot of times. It's just stripped down me in the piano and about love, a lot of times it's just stripped down me and the piano, and I'm gonna tell it like it is in this song and voice the things that people have a hard time voicing in their own words, and they're gonna use my song to do it. And so that's been my signature ever since, but Ordinary People was the thing that really established that. And it was, the first station that played it was WGCI in Chicago. And it wasn't even being marketed as the single yet when they started playing it. We had a sampler out and

we put used to love you, ordinary people as full songs. And this is in the CD era. So we hand out CDs with ordinary people used to love you as the full songs and then snippets of three other songs before my album came out. So we would give that to folks at my shows, but also give it to radio stations. And we were telling them to play Used to Love You, and some of them were playing it,

but WGCI was like, oh, we play another song. We're playing Ordinary People. And it became a hit in Chicago, and then it started to spread to other black radio stations around the country. And then it crossed over some, but mostly it was a hit in Chicago and then it started to spread to other black radio stations around the country and then it crossed over some but mostly was a black radio phenomenon and It really put me on the map and Changed my life. Is it true now?

And like I said at the concert at the Hollywood Bowl you're telling the story that it was originally written. Yes, like I piece Yes Me and will I am we had the same manager at the time, and we had written together before. We wrote She Don't Have to Know, which is on Get Lifted. We had written songs for the Black Eyed Peas, and we had a nice rapport. So whenever he was working on a new album,

he's like, John, come by, let's write some songs. And so he would just play beats, and I would just hum whatever came to my head, and we'd try to write some hooks for the Black Eyed Peas. And Ordinary People started as a hook that I wrote for them over a hip hop beat. But a couple days later, I was like, you can keep every other idea we wrote. But I think I want to keep Ordinary People. I was like, I think it would work better actually as a ballad.

I think it'll work better actually as a ballad. I think so. And so I was on the road with Kanye in Europe and every soundcheck, I would write more of the verses to Ordinary People. I finished it on the road with him and then I came back home to the States and recorded it and I recorded it as a demo and I was like, well, you can produce it. I'm just going to record the piano and the vocal and the more we all listen to it we're like let's just leave the demo alone. So the version that eventually made the album was just the piano vocal demo that I was sending to Will originally just as a demo for him to produce up in the range and put

you know whatever he's gonna put on it but it ended up sounding better just stripped down so we just left it that way. Is it true ordinary people was about the situation that your family had gone through because your mom and dad are either separated, they had gotten back together. And we're saying we're just ordinary people. We don't know which way to go. And I wasn't in like a serious relationship at the time. So I wasn't speaking from direct personal experience

in my own relationship. I was still like a bachelor doing my thing, having fun. But my parents, I had seen the ups and downs with them. And that was really directly informing what I was writing for ordinary people. Wow. Now, you've mentioned Kanye. And I don't know Kanye from this glass of water here. But I know he seems like a perfectionist. Is that everything has to be lined up or it's not getting out the door. How is his writing, his style of doing things different than yours? We're different, but I feel like us together works really well because we have different

strengths and he's such a great producer, a great beat maker, and he's such a great producer a great beat maker and he's also just Exceptionally creative like his mind it goes all over the place. Yes, and he's created visually so he directed the video for ordinary people and You know, he's a fashion designer. Yes. He's a director. He's a visionary and And so he just came with different strengths than what I came with. Now, I'm a great songwriter, obviously. I'm a pianist. I'm a musician. I have a more theoretical understanding of music. And so we just came at it with different abilities. I came from gospel and soul. He came from hip hop. And so I think us coming together just complimented each other and it worked really well. Is this around the time, I think it was someone in his group,

your name was John Stevens, and it was like, come on, Legend. Give us that beat. Come on, Legend. They kept calling you John Legend. J. Ivy. So J. Ivy, he's a spoken word artist. He makes records himself. He's a great human being and a great artist himself.

But he, if you listen back to Never Let Me Down on College Dropout, he did a verse on there and he was hanging out with us. We were in LA mostly when we were making College Dropout at Record Plant and he was at some of the sessions, he started calling me The Legend and eventually that morphed into John Legend. And I didn't think I was really going to become John Legend, you know, as a stage name. I've been John Stevens my whole life. I wasn't, you know, I didn't think there was anything wrong with my name as a stage name. But eventually enough people were calling me that I started thinking about it. And part of me like, how are you gonna call yourself a legend? You don't even have a record to it. Part of me said that but the other

part was like you know what if I call myself this it's gonna like it's gonna make people pay attention to what yes yes and it's a great stage name in the sense that it makes people take notice and and then the only thing I had to do was try to live up to it once they took notice. And so my goal was don't f*** this up. Like if you're going to call yourself this, you better call me correct. You better be a legend. And so that my whole career, I feel like part of my mission is to make sure I live up to this name that was given to me before I even earned it. Now a lot of people don't know there was a gentleman had the name John Ledger.

So yeah, you told the story. Tell this story. I don't know if a lot of people know this story. So well, first of all, y'all, if you understand, Shannon's been to my show and for the last two years, I've been doing this show where I tell stories about my life and all these things so he learned a lot. He did his homework. And so anybody that's been to my show knows the story but a lot of people haven't been so as soon as we decide, you know, I'm going with John Legend as a name, I start going to record labels introducing myself that way

and I got signed and they understood that they were putting out a record with John Legend. But eventually my lawyer is like, oh, by the way, we need to trademark John Legend as a name. And so when you start trademarking, the key with trademark is if you're in the same business, you can't have a name that's too much like somebody else's name because you could confuse people. Right.

Okay. So they start researching to see if there's any other musicians named Johnny Legend or John Legend and they find a guy named Johnny Legend and he's mainly a porn producer. That was his like main day job but he also made music on the side and he had records like rockabilly records. And so you could theoretically go into a record store and find a Johnny Legend record. And if there's a John Legend record, it could be confusing to somebody. And he could have a case to say, yo, this guy stole my name. So we had to find him and negotiate with him so that he's Johnny Legend.

I'm John Legend, and we're not going to sue each other. And we broke him off a little money and said, we're doing this so that you won't come back and sue him later. And you're Johnny Legend, he's John Legend. And we've had no problems. No problem since. You also was telling the story that on everything is everything with Lauren Hill

That's you on the piano how many people before you started telling this story at your show How many people actually knew that that was you on the piano? Oh, they didn't know unless they saw me doing a deep cut interview or something like that You know, there's a lot of songs that I was a part of and I do a whole little segment during my show I bet you didn't know this was me. I sang back up on Alicia Keys and co wrote American Boy for Estelle. So a lot of hit songs that you didn't know as a part of I was a part of. And yeah, so that was, you know, in the beginning of my career where I'm paying my dues and

just getting in on sessions and doing what I could do. Even though I knew I wanted to be a solo artist and make it as a singer-songwriter, I got in where I fit in, and I was doing this and doing that and trying to get on any record I could. I think you said you got $500 for that. $500. And was that Columbia Records? Columbia Records.

That you ended up signing with? So the same label I ended up signing with, by coincidence, was the label that put out Miseducational Lauryn Hill. And my first appearance on a major record was getting $500 to play piano for Lauryn Hill. And it was the same label that ended up signing me for a lot more than $500. Yeah, I need restitution.

I need all my restitution for that. The NBA is finally back, and new season mean new ways to get into the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Who's draining threes from beyond the art? Who's crashing the boards and grabbing rebounds? Get behind your favorite player and prop bets you can make on DraftKings, home of the NBA player props. Ready to place your first bet? Try betting on something as simple as picking your team to win. Go to DraftKings Sportsbook app and place your bet. First time new DraftKings customers can bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Take it to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook.

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Reward expires at contest lock on 9524. See terms at draftkings.com slash DFS. Apple Music ranked Miss Education the best album of all time. It was also the first ever hip hop album to win album of the year at the Grammys. And remains Lauryn Hill's only solo album to date. Are you surprised that she hasn't put out

a sophomore project, a junior project, or senior project, that that's it. Well, I think we'd all love to hear what's on her mind now, you know? And that album was so impactful for so many people, especially artists like myself. So not just because I was on it, and that was big too, but during that time, so I'm a young, soulful artist who's being influenced by gospel, R&B, classic soul, hip hop. And to have Miseducation of Lauryn Hill come out, just as I'm starting to form my own vision of what I want to be as an artist, it was so influential to me and so

influential to so many young artists at that time. It was like the prototype for what, like a new soulful hip-hop record could be. So we were looking to her as like the prototype for what we should sound like, and we all would love to hear more. But for some reason, it just hasn't happened. Right.

What was she like in the studio? She was very vibrant, very creative, very collaborative. It was only that one night where we were in the studio together. We ended up making another record together, a remix to So High from my first album, but we weren't in the studio together when she did her part on it. I did it with Wyclef, he produced it, and then he produced her session, so I wasn't in the studio with her the second time, and the only other time I was in the studio with her was auditioning for her band.

So the first time I was in the studio was playing piano on Everything is Everything, and that was just impromptu. I was just hanging out and during a break when they were writing songs, my friend was like, Johnny, get over there and show her you can play. So I get over there, sit on the piano, and sing a couple songs. She's like, why don't you play on the record we're working on now? And that was Everything is Everything. and I didn't know what was gonna happen I know if they were gonna use what I did on there but a few months later I got the call from the label and they were like we need to know how to spell your name for the credits and how much do you want?

Billion. But last name is Billion. Did you know that song was gonna do what it did? No I didn't know the album was but I think there was a lot of expectation around her because the Fugees had already had a huge hit with the score. So the score had come out in 96 and Killing Me Softly was the biggest hit from that. And so everybody's like, the girl that sings, we need to hear her do a whole album together, do a whole album by herself. And so everybody was wondering when she was going to go solo and why Clef had done the carnival and then Lauren was about to put out Miseducation of Lauryn Hill so there was a lot of expectation around it but you never know how it's going to do and

then when it comes out it's just like epic, it's classic, it's immediately world changing when it comes out and I was just proud to be a part of it. Right. Yeah. This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Shae Shae Profile

and I'll see you there. I'm Julian Edelman. I'm Rob Granckowski. And we are super excited to tell you about our new show, Dudes on Dudes. We're spilling all the behind-the-scenes stories, crazy details, and honestly, just having a blast talking football.

Every week, we're discussing our favorite players of all times, from legends to our buddies, to current stars. We're finally answering the age-old question, what kind of dudes are these dudes? We're gonna find out, Jules. New episodes drop every Thursday during the NFL season. Listen to Dudes on Dudes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey everyone, Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I wanna tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake. I've been a sports nut my whole life, and there's nothing I love more than talking about it. If you're a sports fan, Wake and Jake is the place for you covering all the hot topics from the sports world. A lot of baseball, a lot of postseason coverage, mock drafts, awards, guest interviews, all of it. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Come watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen on the i heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts

Hey everyone. This is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast It's called Jimmy's three things Episodes come out every Tuesday and for 30 minutes I dive into three stories in major league baseball that I want talk about, or I do a stat deep dive. Sometimes I create my own stats. It gets weird. It's now your go-to podcast for staying up to date and in the weeds with Major League Baseball. No topic is off limits or too small. Bad umpires, great pitcher-catcher duos, new rules, old rules, three things that I want to talk about. Listen to Jimmy's three things on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.