John Legend From the Eyes of Producer Dave Tozer

Deana Mundell

When John Legend hit the music scene in 2004, the music industry took notice. In an industry dominated by pop and hip-hop, Legend’s fresh R&B/Neo-Soul vibe took his first single “Ordinary People” to the #24 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, while his album Get Lifted sold 2.1 million copies in the U.S., becoming platinum in the process. The album’s success culminated with the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2006.

Over the next ten years, Legend released four additional albums: Once Again, Evolver, Wake Up (with the Roots) and Love in the Future. With three of these albums going platinum or gold, it’s safe to say Legend puts out consistently strong sellers. As of 2014, he has won a total of nine Grammy Awards for his solo work and collaborations, though it was the international “it” song “All of Me” that won people over worldwide. Since its release on August 12th of last year, it has charted consistently and has been certified platinum five times.

Legend is backed by a well-oiled team that includes executive producers Kanye West and Dave Tozer, both of whom worked on his latest album, Love in the Future. Entertainment Voice caught up with Tozer to talk about their process.

“The goal was […] just to make something beautiful and [write] some great songs. For me as a producer, it was always certainly to make John feel at home as an artist […] and envelop him in a production that suits him.[For Love in the Future], we wrote a lot of songs. Some material took a different direction. It took about a year and a half. He would go write with other producers, then send them to me to evaluate. If I liked them, I’d work on them further. At a certain point, a musical theme started developing. Then [we picked] the ones that fit best.”

While West and Tozer make the executive decisions and work on every song, Tozer believes it’s best for Legend to write with a diverse range of songwriters in order to keep his music fresh.

“Different people bring different vibes. [Legend is] an artist and a songwriter himself. When he goes into a room, they’re going to inspire different sides of him. He can go in with a lot of people and try out ideas, try out music, try out songs. [It’s] one of the reasons Kanye and I were the Exec. Producers. We’re a team that’s tried and true and has always worked for him. […] It’s important to help oversee, but still give him the opportunity to get fresh blood into it.”

The album is comprised of 16 tracks, four of which were released as singles, including “Made to Love”. The track’s blend of hip-hop and synth beats integrates scatting vocals performed by the effervescent Kimbra for a sonically interesting jazz feel. Equally as interesting, says Tozer, was Kimbra’s ultimately wordless feature.

“When we were making “Made to Love”, we didn’t have Kimbra in mind. But she visited us at the studio in New York, we played her the song, and she thought it was cool. She had a melody idea and recorded it in the booth. We also had her sing other parts, [including] a whole other section that we cut. The breakdown part of her scatting was done off-the-cuff. She didn’t know it was going to be on the record like that. Sometimes features are done in a way that’s not very cool, [as] it’s more about marketing than the music, [thinking] we need to get somebody hot on this record. I thought it was really cool that we have a feature and she’s not actually singing words.”

What comes out of these sessions are songs that are indelibly marked by Legend’s artistic touch, songs which feel new, yet are familiar enough to latch onto, as in the case of “All of Me”.

“‘All of Me’ is a new wedding song. This will go down in American music as one of the classics. […] I think a lot of us aren’t targeting that; sometimes, we’re just going for disposable music. [It’s] nice when you can also be a part of something bigger and something timeless.

“‘All of Me’ is very simple. It’s well crafted. It’s intimate. It’s fascinating how well it has done [on the charts] when you look at the songs […] on the Top 10. It speaks to the fact that it’s all about having a great song. If you can get a great song that can really connect with people, then it’s really going to shine through. We worked on that song for the better part of a year, trying things out. We cut different piano parts, kept tweaking it, but, in the end, we kept simplifying it. It’s a pretty sparse production. It’s just about focusing on the beauty of the writing and his vocal performance. [The success] is great and well [deserved]. I’m really happy for John. It was our first Billboard Hot 100 single.”

At a time when production values are increasingly complex, few songs aspire to such classic simplicity. Therein lies the key to the success of “All of Me”, and to its likely longevity. With this popular and timeless track, Legend has penned a tune that ought to remain as relevant twenty years down the line, as it is now. With that feat, he has truly earned the name “Legend”.