John Legend: Music has a way to talk to us despite the cultural differences

Grammy winning singer John Legend was recently in India for a short professional trip, which turned out to be personal for him. He admits that being in the country reminded of the power of music to transcend boundaries and culture.

Legend was in India for a musical tour with rapper Raja Kumari, with whom he worked on the song, Keep Walking.

“I had a great time in India. It has been a quick trip but I have really enjoyed performing. This is my first time performing here and working with Raja Kumari,” says Legend, who performed in Mumbai and Delhi as part of Walkers and Co Tour.

The 44-year-old continues, “However, I could not do a lot of exploration as it was a quick trip but we had some great food. And it was wonderful”.

Opening up about working with Kumari, the All of Me singer , who welcomed his third child, Etsi, earlier this year, shares, “Our song is about being inclusive and looking forward to a brighter future. We wrote it together at my studio in Los Angeles, and Raja was wonderful to work with. We have such different styles and energies, which made it fun”.

In fact, he has also worked with Oscar winning AR Rahman in the past, and he is not looking forward to adding more names to the list.

“There is so much for me to learn from Indian culture as well as Indian music. I have had a chance to meet some artists and creators in India, and worked with AR Rahman. We all can learn so much from each other. And the wonderful thing about music is that it really connects us. It has a way of speaking, even if we have linguistic differences, or cultural differences. Music as a way of speaking to us is really special”.

Asked if he is in touch with Rahman, the EGOT winner shares, “I was in touch with him for a while, but I haven’t talked to him in a little bit. I want to catch up with him again, and collaborate with other Indian artists as well”.

“The world is getting smaller. People really realise how much we have in common. Music helps us learn that. We all grew up with different cultures and cultural differences. But music is available everywhere. We are all listening to each other and learning from each other by collaborating together,” he ends.