Mawazine 2015: Adam Levine praises ‘genius’ Kanye West

Adam Levine of Maroon 5, left, and Kanye West perform onstage in New York City. Scott Gries / Getty Images / AFP

Adam Levine has nothing but kind words for the much maligned rapper Kanye West. Speaking from the Mawazine Festival in Morocco on Saturday, the Maroon 5 frontman recalled how both artists first met to record the 2005 Kanye single Heard 'Em Say.

“He is a genius and — love him or hate him — he is brilliant,” Levine said.

“We were on the same flight to the MTV European Music Awards in Italy. I never met him before and he literally came up to me with this iPod and said “yo man, how are you doing? I am Kanye and I have this record and do you want to write this song together?” I said yes and we went to the studio. It was that easy. He is such a pure creative person and I respect that about him. Everything with him is so real and legitimate, I love that dude.”