Get Lifted

You know more about John Legend than you think. His music and talent are known and respected worldwide. A musical protg from an early age, 23 year old Legend has worked with some of the biggest names in music, and now he is to release his debut album, Get Lifted. Legend’s talents made him BMI’s sole choice to receive one of the five 2002 Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Scholarships, just check out these accolades: Featured as a vocalist, pianist and co-writer on several tracks from Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout; Vocalist and pianist on tracks from Jay-Z’s The Black Album; Vocalist and co-writer on “You Don’t Know My Name” and other tracks, from The Diary of Alicia Keys; Co-writer & pianist on Janet Jackson’s single “I Want You”; Lead vocalist and co-writer on the Black Eyed Peas song “The Boogie That B” from Elephunk; Pianist and video appearance on “Slow Jamz” by Twista & Kanye West and Jamie Foxx plus many, many more.John Legend was already pretty big news when this debut album came out in 2004. A piano-playing prodigy at the University of Pennsylvania, blessed with a wonderful voice, his break came when the then-unknown Kanye West asked him to sing some hooks on The College Dropout, his own breakthrough release. A slew of session work followed.
West, well aware of the scale of Legends contribution to his work, made him the flagship artist of his new label, Getting Out Our Dreams, and the rather more mundane John Stephens soon became John Legend. Produced by will.i.am and Dave Tozer alongside West and Legend, Get Lifted is a remarkably assured debut. It isnt smothered in tricks as it doesnt need to be: the quality of the writing is, in the main, outstanding.