John Legend may be busy promoting his joint album with The Roots, but he’s already thinking ahead. After some time apart, the soul man is back in the lab with his old pal Kanye West recording his next solo album.
The G.O.O.D. Music affiliates, whose early collaborations date back to Kanye’s 2004 debut The College Dropout, have reunited for Legend’s fourth solo album. “I’m starting the next solo album now,” he told Billboard magazine. “Kanye and I are executive producing together.”
Additionally, the Ohio native linked up with his Chi-town collaborator on the remix to ‘Ye’s “POWER,” as well as material that could end up on either Kanye’s fifth album or his five-track Watch the Throne EP with Jay-Z.
“I also worked on Kanye’s album a little bit, on the ‘POWER’ remix and other stuff,” explained Legend. “But God only knows what Kanye is actually going to put on the album and what’s going to be on the other five-song album he’s putting out.”
The last known collaborations between Kanye and John graced Yeezy’s 2007 release Graduation, where Legend sang backup vocals on the tracks “Good Life” and “The Glory.” The two linked up to record the one-off joint “It’s Over” for Legend’s 2008’s effort Evolver and performed together at Kanye’s private Rosewood show in August.
Legend didn’t employ West’s services for his most recent release Wake Up!, instead joining forces with The Roots to cover ’60s and ’70s politically-minded standards.