John LegendBY:SAMANTHA MARADIAGA

Early Years/Education

He was born on December 28, 1978

John attended North High School, and graduated at the age of sixteen as the salutatorian

Attended the University of Pennsylvania, majored in English/African American Literature

Managed an acapella group called Counterparts

After college, Legend began writing, producing, and recording his own music

After college

He was introduced to Lauryn Hill, who later hired him to play the piano in her song, Everything is Everything.

Legend began playing shows around Philadelphia, and acquiring fans in New York, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington D.C.

Legend worked as the management consultant for Boston Consulting Group.

He worked on his demo and sent his work to various record labels

He was signed to Kanye West’s Label GOOD

Get Lifted

It was released in December of 2004 Get Lifted sold 116,000 copies in its’ first

weeks It was certified gold by the RIAA

Get Lifted..continued

Used to Love You was released on August 31, 2004

Ordinary people was released on April 7, 2005

Number One was released on August 23, 2005

So High was released on December 8, 2005

Awards for Get Lifted

 Legend won a 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album  

He won Best New Artist for this album. 

Legend won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for Ordinary People

The People Speak

The People Speak, is a documentary.

It is based upon letters and diaries of everyday Americans.

It’s Running time is 106 minutes

Wake Up

Wake up was an album that was collaborated with The Roots.

Wake Up, was released on September 21, 2010.

There are many collaborations in this album such as Common, CL Smooth, and Black Thought who was originally from The Roots.

Wake Up, is mainly an album of 1970’s soul re-makes.

Collaborations in Wake Up

There are many collaborations in this album such as Common, CL Smooth, and Black Thought who was originally from The Roots.

Copyright Infringement

Legend was sued for copyright infringement, of his song, Maxine’s Interlude by Anthony Stokes of the Stokes

Stokes claimed that Legend had copied Maxine’s Interlude from a track off of his demo that he gave to Legend called, Where Are You Now.

Legend ended up settling a lawsuit with Stokes.

Show Me

Show Me, which is dedicated to helping poverty stricken individuals, advocates for education reforms in the United States, and provides health care, clean water, and education, and basic tools that help individuals break the cycle of poverty in Africa.

The campaign provides scholarship to students in Africa, and the United States.

There are many partners for the Show Me campaign such as; Teach for America, Stand For Children, Millennium Villages, Green Dot Schools and a myriad of others.

Duets

Duets, is a television series in which famous musicians choose undiscovered artists and perform duets with them weekly in front of a live studio audience.

Legend stated the qualities that he was looking for in his partner as: "Somebody with a great voice. I was looking for someone with some flexibility as far as what they could sing and what styles they could sing. But, just as important was somebody that would sound good with me, so that we would have a nice blend.“

Overall, the contestants that Legend chose as his duet partners placed fourth, seventh, and ninth.

Love In The Future

He released his fifth studio album, Love In The Future on September 2, 2013.

It debuted number four on Billboard’s 200.

Love In The Future sold 68,000 copies in its first week.

Legend claimed that this album took the longest to produce, write, and record compared to any of his other albums

The three singles on this album are, Who Do We Think We Are, which was released on March 25 of 2013, Made to Love, which was released on June 18th of 2013, and also All of Me which was released on August 12th of 2013.

Green Light

Green Light is a song written by John Stephens (Legend), Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000), Rick Nowels, Fin Greenall, and James Ho.

Green light was produced by James Ryan Ho, and Kawan "KP" Prather, under GOOD (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music Label, Columbia Records, and Sony Music Entertainment.

. It was released on August 19, 2008.

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Green Light was recorded by Wine-O-Cellar Recording, which is located in College Park, GA, and Patchwerk Recording Studios in Atlanta, GA.

The U.S radio edit of this song is approximately four minutes and nineteen seconds, while the International Radio Edit is three minutes and fifty four second.

This fabulous song contains vocals, the use of the piano, and also the use of the guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and horns

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It was certified platinum by the RIAA, and charted at ninety two on the Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2009.

The vocals preformed on Green Light were sung by John Legend (Stephens), and also on this track was Andre Benjamin, who is a rapper for the group Outkast, who rapped a verse.

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The Billboard’s Top 100 dubbed Green Light Legend’s ‘most upbeat single yet’ as of 2009.

Green Light was inspired by Legend’s inspiration and desire to mix up the type of music he normally made.

Legend and his writers got together and made Green Light.

Green Light is currently tied for Legend’s best-selling single with Ordinary People

All Of Me

All of me is a song that was released on August 3, 2013, and was recorded from 2011-2013.

This song was recorded under Columbia Records, and Sony Music Entertainment’s label.

All of me was produced by Dave Tozer, the 88-Keys, Legend, and Kanye West. Dave Tozer produced a myriad of the songs that John Legend preformed/wrote including a majority of the album, Love in The Future. He has worked with many popular award winning artists such as Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and Natasha Bedingfield.

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All of me was influenced by Chrissy Teigen, who is Legend’s wife.

There were many people who made this single possible and they are; Jason Agel, who is the Engineer, Toby Gad, who was the Composer, Phily Jolly, Dave Rowling, and Kenta Yonesaka, who were the assistant engineers, Dave Kutch, who was in charge of the mastering, and the executive producers were Dave Tozer, and Kanye West.

The Writers of this song are John Legend, and Toby Gad. Toby Gad is a Grammy Award winning songwriter, music producer, and performer residing Los Angeles

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All of Me, and most of the tracks that John Legend performed fall under the genre of R&B, Neo-Soul, or just Soul. R&B music is a genre that incorporates musical elements of rhythm and blues, funk, soul, pop, and funk

There have been very few musicians who have found a wide array of success at pursuing this genre.

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At the moment, All of Me hasn’t been certified by the RIAA, but there is a great possibility that it will in the future.

. All of Me is four minutes and twenty nine seconds long on the album version, and there are many versions.

On YouTube, All of Me has over one million hits, which is bound to increase as the track has just been released.

Everybody Knows

The song Everybody Knows was performed by John Legend, and was released on March 23, 2009.

The writers of this song are John Legend, Kawan “KP” Prather, James Ryan Ho, and Terrance Smith

on March 23, 2009.. Everybody Knows falls into the genres of R&B, Neo-Soul, Soul, and Pop. This song is approximately four minutes and thirty five seconds on the album version. The Afroganic version of this song is approximately three minutes and thirty nine seconds, the Infinity Radio edit is approximately four minutes and two seconds long, and the live version is approximately five minutes and twenty nine seconds long.

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The producers of this song are Kawan “KP” Prather, and James Ryan Ho. Everybody Knows was the thirds single on the album Evolver after the second single on the track, Magnificent. Everybody Knows was uploaded on YouTube on October 2, 2009, and is copyrighted by GOOD music label, and Sony Music Entertainment which are the labels the song is recorded under

As of right now, Everybody Knows has over six million hits on YouTube.

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This song was recorded during the year 2008, under GOOD music label, and Sony Music Entertainment label.

The music video to Everybody Knows was directed by Anthony Mandler, who is an American film director, producer, television commercial director, and began his career as a photographer.

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This song was generally influenced by a bad relationship that Legend had been in at the time of writing it.

. Legend claimed to MTV News, about Everybody Knows that “It is a song about a relationship that’s falling apart and we don’t know what’s going to happen with it.” He also added in this quote.

“You can get advice from everybody else. Everybody thinks they know what’s going on, but nobody really knows. And it’s really saying,’we all go through these things, but you don’t really know what someone else is going through unless you are them.” (6)The video is set in an area of Manhattan containing a wide diversity of different people of race, sexual orientation, and ages. Legend had to say this about the video: “The concept behind the video is, we’re getting a slice of life in New York, different people going through different life issues, different relationships. Just showing how everybody experiences love, and me, myself , you know, I’m just performing and contemplating a failed relationship and hoping we can give it one more try.”

Green Light

I 0:00 Introduction : The form that this section is in is the introduction. The song begins with John Legend singing on a very high pitch, and the keyboard comes in two to three seconds into this section. The dynamics of the vocals in this section are very strong and loud. The keyboards maintain a medium strength. Legend keeps an upbeat rhythm in this section. The timbre was very upbeat, enthusiastic, and if I had to give it a color I would assign it green obviously. When the vocals and instruments combined in this section it was very harmonious

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Iii 0:25 Verse one: In this section Legend is singing the first verse, while the instruments softly play in the background, building anticipation for the hook. The keyboard and the saxophone was responsible for most of the harmony in this section. The dynamics were louder than the previous sections to prepare for the upcoming chorus. The rhythm, was very constant, which is very common in R&B, Soul, and Neo-Soul music that this track fits under. Verse one is homophonic. This verse is very easy going, passionate, and energetic. The melody was very steady with the playing of the piano.

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Ii 0:13 Bridge: In the bridge, the rest of the instruments, the saxophone, the trombone, piano, trumpet, and the guitar are introduces, as Legend maintains the high pitched vocals. The dynamics are very strong, as the instruments pick up their pitch, and Legend maintains his pitch. The timbre can constantly be described as being eager, up-tempo, outgoing, and had very high energy. The texture of this bridge is polyphonic, and leaves you with a sultry feeling. The rhythm is strong, and loudly patterned. The harmony in this section is very steady, and is constant with the instruments, but not so much with the vocals.

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IV 0:49 Hook: In the hook, Legend is singing, the same three to four lines in preparation for the chorus, and the instruments, play on the same as the rest of the song. The tempo is increasing in this hook which leads you into the chorus. The melody is pretty steady with the instruments especially the keyboard used. The texture of this hook is homophonic, as you can hear the trombone, saxophone, and the guitar. The harmony changed in this section, and is not very consistent. The timbre in this section is red, and yellow if I had to give it a color because the lyrics are just leaving you unsatisfied, until you listen to the chorus. The rhythm stays steady in this section, and is quite nice.

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V 1:15 Chorus: In the chorus, it starts off with Andre 3000(Benjamin) singing very softly, but at a very fast tempo, then John Legend joins in during the chorus, at a very loud pitch, and they start singing together. During the chorus, the timbre is very anxious, and extremely upbeat and it makes you want to get up on your feet and dance. Andre’s vocals fade out before the end of the chorus, and only Legend’s vocals are left. The texture is homophonic, and very rough in the chorus, and busy. There are many different things going on in the section. Harmony changed from the soft pitch that it was at to a higher pitch with Legend’s vocals. The rhythm is upbeat and faster than in the previous sections of music.

Continued..

VI 1:40 Verse two: In this verse, John Legend is singing, at quite a high pitch. The instruments, the saxophone, piano, trombone, trumpet, and guitar are slowly decreasing in pitch, and maintaining a medium standard for their dynamics. The second verse maintains the same harmony as the first verse which is displayed by the instruments and the combination of Legend’s voice. The melody is normal and steady with the instruments. The dynamics for Legend’s voice is at a medium rate, and the same for the instruments. The timbre for this section is green.

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Ix 2:53 Verse three: This verse features Andre 3000 rapping. The instruments literally stay the same as they are throughout the song, but Andre raps to a faster tempo than any of the instruments, or Legend’s vocals throughout the song. The dynamics of Andre’s vocals are very loud, while the instrumental dynamics are at a medium range. There isn’t really harmony in the vocals, but the instruments, maintain harmony, and the melody. The timbre is really exciting, and green. The rhythm is constant while Andre is rapping. The texture is homophonic.

Xii Middle Eight: In this section, the music is definitely fading, Legend’s voice is soft, and Andre is vocally all over the place. The dynamics are lower than in the rest of the song. The texture is monophonic. The timbre is pink, as the song is fading, which leaves you with a sad feeling. The rhythm is steady, but slower as the song is fading. The harmony isn’t identifiable as the music is all over the place. The melody is steady with legend’s vocals.

All of me

I 0:00 Introduction: The introduction consists of soft, angelic, and beautiful piano playing by John Legend. The notes Legend uses are high pitched. Legend keeps the dynamics softer in this introduction. The rhythm is steady as the piano keeps a pattern of notes. The harmony is consistent and sounds like it is moving in wavelike motions with the piano playing. The timbre gives the introduction a non-judgmental, and loving emotion to the introduction. If I had to choose a color for the timbre it would be pink or dark red. The texture in this song was very soft, and had a silk like flow to it. The introduction was monophonic.

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Ii 0:08 Verse One: In Verse One, Legend is singing at a normal vocal range, and he is also playing the piano at a consist range of notes. In this section of All of Me, the dynamics are louder than the introduction because Legend’s vocals are higher pitched than the piano. The harmony flows perfectly in this section with the piano and Legend’s voice, and makes the song romantic and beautiful. The rhythm, is mostly evident in the piano and not so much in Legend’s voice. The tempo is at a moderate speed, not too fast, and not too slow at the same time. The melody is carried on by the piano, and some parts of Legend’s vocals. The timbre of this verse is very romantic, and the color is bright red. The texture reminds me of a silky scarf that is warm and comforting. This section is polyphonic.

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Iii 0:39 Bridge: In this bridge, Legend’s vocals are soft, and low pitched. The piano is still playing at a normal pitch, and hasn’t picked up tempo, or slowed any. The dynamics pick up a lot in this section as Legend prepares for the chorus, and the urgency is obvious. As the piano plays, the harmony is easy to pick up on. It flows, and is beautiful to listen to. The melody is carried on by Legend’s vocals. The rhythm isn’t really steady in this section. It is more come and go, and is harder to pick up. The tone of this section is urgent, romantic, and red. The texture is more of a feeling of longing, and want. This section is polyphonic. In this bridge, the piano has a sense of urgency also.

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IV 0:53 Chorus: The chorus consists of Legend maintaining a medium vocal range while the piano plays keys that are higher pitched than any other in the rest of the song. The piano also plays different notes, and doesn’t repeat the same pattern as in the bridge, or the first verse. The dynamics in Legend’s vocals maintains are loud, while the piano is also at a louder pitch. The melody was constant with Legend’s vocals, but not so much with the piano, because it was going on a different pattern with the rest of the song. The harmony was steady with Legend’s voice as well, and it carried to the point that it was easy to point out in the section. The timbre of this section was confident, easy going, and passionate. The rhythm was harder to point out than the other elements of music in this section. The piano pitches, and keys were different, and not particularly patterned, and Legend’s vocals were higher pitched than the other sections. The texture was very rough, but at the same time it was still silky smooth.

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V 1:39 Verse two: The second verse was quite similar to the first verse. Legend keeps a normal vocal range, while the piano goes back down to its’ patterned keys as in the introduction, verse one, and the first bridge. The dynamics seem to be at quite a loud level for the piano compared to the vocals. The timbre is kind of somber in this verse, as well as romantic, concerned, and caring. The rhythm is at a constant with the vocals and the piano notes. The texture is kind of choppy for Legend’s voice, but smooth with the piano keys. The melody is easily identifiable in the piano pitches and keys, as they are patterned, and switch the melody wraps around them. The harmony in this section is quite similar to the melody as it is easily identifiable. The piano and the vocals together create great harmony that swirls around the music. The texture in this section is polyphonic.

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Viii 3:25 Coda: The Coda for this song is very soft, Legend’s voice is very drawn out, while the piano is slowly fading out. The dynamic in this section is slow, and then pics up in the very end when Legend carries out his last note, but the piano is very soft. It is almost unrecognizable. The melody is very distinct, and can be identified with the piano, and Legend’s voice. The timbre of this section is very shy, forgiving, and comforting. The texture is calm, almost like a sheet on top of a bed, or very calm waves on the ocean or a lake. The harmony in this section is unbelievable, I could pick it up very easily, and it flowed so well.

 

Everybody Knows

I 0:00 Introduction: The introduction starts out instrumentally, with the guitar, keyboards, piano, and trombone. There is no vocal parts in the introduction. The dynamics in the introduction are at a medium rate. The melody in the introduction is steady, and picks up with the strumming of the guitar. The harmony is not very evident. The timbre of this section seems to be greyer than anything. It is a neutral feeling that you get from the introduction. The texture is very edgy. It isn’t a very comfortable feeling that transpires from the introduction, but more of a feeling of a sudden drop of emotion. This section of the song is very monophonic. The melody in this section is evident, but it’s not a happy melody. It is ranging on the depressing side.

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Ii 0:12 Verse one: Verse one contains vocals at a medium range from John Legend. The first verse also contains various instrumental accompaniment at medium range, until the end of the verse comes, then the dynamics become louder. This is the same with Legend’s vocals. The vocals become higher pitched towards the chorus. The melody is steady with the instrumental performance in this section, but not so much evident in the vocals. The harmony is more evident in the vocals than it is in the instrumentals, as there are more than one instruments playing in different directions. The vocals maintain a steady harmony though, especially in those elongated notes. The tone in this section is very depressing, as if the singer has given up all hope that his lover will come back to him. I give this section a color blue. The texture is homophonic, and it feels as if there are a waterfall of tears just raining down from the sky. The rhythm is steady more with the instruments than with Legend’s vocals, because the instruments are all over the place.

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Iii 0:47 Chorus: In the chorus, Legend is vocalizing, while the instruments are playing right behind him. The dynamics are the loudest here than they are in the whole son, but only for the vocals. The instruments start playing new keys/notes, and are not patterned as they are in the introduction, or in the first verse. The rhythm for both the vocals and the instruments are easy to pick up. The instruments’ melody is very easy to recognize, as it is steady, but the vocals are a lot harder to recognize as they do not follow a specific pattern, or chord progression. The harmony is very evident in the vocals. Legend’s voice is harmonious, and maintains a steady harmony throughout the chorus that is easy to pick up on, but the instrument’s do not necessarily keep a harmony, as they are too different. The timbre in this section is undeniably sad, depressing, and blue. The texture in this chorus leaves you feeling as if you are going to be slipping into a fog of nothingness, all alone and lost. It is a very depressing feeling that the chorus leaves you with. John Legend’s culture of R&B, allows him to keep very harmonic vocals, that are elongated, and crushing so that they allow you to feel exactly what the artist himself is feeling in this chorus.

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VI 2:50 Bridge: This Bridge is different from the rest of the song because it contains different lyrics, the vocals are almost yelling they are so high, and the instruments have picked up a faster tempo. The dynamics in the bridge are very loud for the vocals, and the instruments are a little louder than the medium range that they have been maintaining for the majority of the song. The harmony is very evident in those loud pitches that Legend was doing in the vocals, and it was very soothing. The melody was picked up, and moved faster as the instrumentals changed. The rhythm was also very steady with the instruments, but not with Legend’s vocals. The timbre in this section is very somber, melancholy, and I would describe it as dark blue for a color. The texture for this section is rough, and loud, and it is polyphonic.

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(2 )John Legend Sued For Copyright Infringement http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2297363/.http://www.theblackheritageradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=646%3Ajohn-legend-sued-for-copyright-infringement&Itemid=127

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(5) Duets' Judge John Legend Says Replacing Lionel Richie 'Was Pretty Crazy. The Hollywood Reporter. Web. 05 Oct. 2013. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/duets-judge-john-legend-lionel-richie-326712.

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(6) Everybody Knows. By John Legend Songfacts. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=13928.