John Legend says being with Kanye West early in career 'helped' him 'not be overwhelmed'

American singer John Legend, real name John Roger Stephans, might be ruling over millions of hearts today but his success didn’t come easy.

The All of Me hitmaker recently gave a shoutout to Kanye West for being with him early in his career when the both of them were trying to pave the way as musicians.

During his conversation with The Guardian, published May 16, the Minefields singer recalled the time when a lot of people in the industry didn’t give him a chance before he met West, who now goes as Ye, in 2001.

“Kanye had just moved to New York from Chicago and we were both these hungry young artists, trying to make it in the business,” Legend said.

“Me and Kanye were working on each other’s demos – mine, which would become Get Lifted, and his, which would be The College Dropout,” he added.

“Finally, The College Dropout came out in 2004 and it just took off. That’s when the music from Get Lifted started to sound a lot better to all the record execs.”

“Being with Kanye and witnessing him blow up in the early days helped prepare me for what would happen,” Legend expressed.

“When success finally happened for me, I felt like I was able to not be overwhelmed by it.”