John Legend Get Lifted CD

Six years after cutting his musical teeth as a teen, tickling the ivories on the classic Lauryn Hill single "Everything Is Everything," John Stephens popped up everywhere in 2004, going by the bold name of John Legend. His ubiquity was unsurprising, since he was taken under the wing of Kanye West, the year's breakout success, who tabbed Legend "the future of hip-hop." It's an interesting label for a man whose elegant voice and schooled songwriting conjures up Bill Withers and Al Green, but sometimes the future intersects with the past in a manner transcending revival.

Legend drops his debut, GET LIFTED, into the center of the neo-soul universe, and it's a charming, earnest record. Sometimes he dives into a contemporary slow jam, as on "Let's Get Lifted;" other times he finds a groove the Delfonics would be proud of, as on the West-driven "Number One." On the gently gorgeous "Ordinary People, " however, it's just the man and his piano. Whether he's truly the future direction of any genre or not, Legend is an artist to watch, and GET LIFTED offers the first major taste of his talent.

If you've listened to Top 40 radio or flipped through the video channels during the past few years, odds are pretty good you know something about John Legend. He played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything" and might as well be considered Kanye West's sidekick, having assisted the producer and MC on several sessions -- Jay-Z's "Encore" and Slum Village's "Selfish" being two of the more prominent 2004 singles featuring his work. A former choir director, he has also released a handful of energetic live discs, some of which are credited to his less hubristic birth name, John Stephens. And though he claims "I've got something new," you've also heard substantial chunks of Get Lifted in records made decades ago by Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones, and Bill Withers. This might not be a problem for listeners who crave anything that recalls the music they first heard in their youth, but Legend's over-reliance upon his inspirations is an impediment as much as a slick way to grab attention. That's because he has more than enough talent and charm to get by on his own. His own lyrics and hooks are unique and clever enough to get the point across that he's no everyday R&B artist and, just as importantly, he has a personable and instantly fetching voice you could listen to all day long. However, the association with West -- whose Sony-distributed boutique label released the record -- is very helpful. Without it, Legend would likely be zoned into neo-soul (2003's Live at SOB's New York

Recording information: Platinum Sound Recording Studio; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; Sound Images, Cincinatti, OH; Studio Crash, Philadelphia, PA; The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; The Stewchia, Los Feliz, CA; WEstlake Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Author: Woody Pornpitaksuk.

Photographer: Danny Clinch.

Personnel: John Legend (vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, keyboards); John Legend; H. Anthony Stephens, Vaughn Stephens, A. Wayne Stephens, Ronald Stephens, Kashaan Stephens (vocals, background vocals); Lenesha Randolph, James Roston, Tara Michel (vocals); Kanye West (rap vocals, programming, drum programming); Snoop Dogg (rap vocals); Dave Tozer (guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, programming, drum programming); Jayme Kelly Curtis, Sharief Hobley (guitar); Corey Hogan (saxophone); Steve Tirpak, Jenee Dixon (trumpet); Elizabeth Lea (trombone); Jeremy Dyen (ARP synthesizer); will.i.am (Moog synthesizer, claves, programming, drum programming); Swiss Chris, Jimmy Coleman (drums); Ted Chung (hand claps); Brett Stephens, Marjorie Stephens, MBalia Singley, Brandy Stephens, Vada Stephens, Phyllis E. Stephens, Doris Stephens, Dionne Stephens, Phyllis Y. Stephens, Melanie Williams (background vocals); Miri Ben-Ari (strings); Tim Izo (flute, saxophone); Printz Board (trumpet).

Audio Mixers: Dave Tozer; Manny Marroquin; Jim Caruana; Tony Maserati.Rolling Stone (p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 - "His brand of soul is mannered, even elegant. And he's got range..."
Spin (p.88) - "[M]ashing up Sunday-service passion and request-line soul. His voice leans on subtlety more than melisma, and his sound has a crisp live-band jump, rather than canned neo-soul static." - Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (p.85) - "Like Ray Charles, Legend joins the spiritual and the secular in satisfying, sexy ways....Almost every tune seduces with catchy hooks and soulful singing..." - Grade: A-
Q (p.121) - "[He has] a gift for writing crowd-pleasing songs, whether upbeat and funky or spare and introspective..."
Uncut (p.132) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[H]e introduces some intriguing new variations on the retro R&B template....Jeff Buckely is surprisingly brought to mind in Legend's passionately fragile delivery."
Vibe (p.144) - 5 discs out of 5 - "It's refreshing to hear a male vocalist who has enough talent to be more than a legend in his own mind."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.63) - Ranked #43 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[L]ayering choral gospel on hip hop's brag in a style bowing to Stevie and Curtis."