John Legend sings in a truly unique voice

Young and Talented. It’s about Damn Time!

I listen to a lot of music and today I just finished listening to John Legend’s new album “Once Again.” The album is amazing from so many perspectives but today I just want to focus on John Legend’s voice. His God given, undeniably gifted, voice of an angel. I had to ask myself why? What makes a voice (when there are so many incredible voices out there) stand out? What is it about the notes that he is hitting in the depths of his voice that makes him so greatly unique?

John Legend was born by the name of John Stephens on December 28th, 1978. Raised in Columbus Ohio, John was already the type to “stand out” at an early age. He was nominated prom king, served as student body president and graduated salutatorian of his class. He was accepted to one of the best schools in the world, University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in English. Clearly, it’s no wonder how his lyrics are so amazingly inspiring and poetically transcend through his music.

But, let’s get back to his voice. So, I’m jamming away to “Heaven” in awe of how talented this man is: but why? Well, I decided to see him live, to see if that would shed some light on my quest for an answer to this question. Surely, this would give me a better idea of his technique without the modern technologies from recording studios, disguising anything.

There I am, front row, in Boston at the Orpheum Theater, and out comes John Legend. The crowd was full of all different types of people, all different walks of life, all different races, men, women, old and young.

The first thing I notice is his intense vibrato that he “unknowingly” incorporates throughout his songs. It is not forced, not practiced, his jaw barely even moves when he’s belting it out, it just happens naturally. Mixing that with his insane ability to “control” his vocal “range” combined with a raspy, yet at the same time, utterly clear vocals… that is what I decided makes him so very unique.

Most modern R&B singers all sound pretty similar in the sense that they tend to utilize their gospel inspired “ladder function”. By this I mean that their melodies intertwine with their “soul”, making their notes travel up
and down on the “musical ladder.” But, that’s where their originality ends. In some cases, it can also sound a little too “forced”, and un-original. We’ve heard it all before, it’s been done and mastered before most of these artists were even born.

John Legend, however, has mastered the ability to naturally keep his voice controlled, while at the same time keeping his notes distinct, and almost as if they were melding into one another, as if his voice in and of itself is its own instrument. In his second album titled “Once Again”, there is a song called Heaven, in which this is all betrothed on his audience. If you listen intently, it’s also amazing how with each lyric he sings, his voice almost depicts what he is actually saying by way of voice only.

“There you go… with the same old thing…when things go wrong, oh, you always seem to blame me”… his “up’s and downs” in this verse, exactly match what he is saying. It is his “voice” that seems to be telling the story and, the lyrics tie it all together so beautifully. This man is amazingly talented, incredibly unique, and truly refreshing to have him grace us with his presence on the music scene, when these days “sugar pop” computerized voices and silicone seems to be topping the charts. It’s about time, we really needed John to step up, and defend his title as a “Legend”.