John Legend says marriage has made him more "empathetic".

John Legend

John Legend

The 'All Of Me' hitmaker believes tying the knot with Chrissy Teigen as well as having 16-month-old daughter Luna has helped him "be humble and compromise".

He said: "[Marriage] helps you develop more empathy. Part of being a good husband and father is being able to listen, be humble and compromise. It's not about dominance and power. You learn as you get older, the best relationships are about give and take."

And the 38-year-old singer slammed "toxic masculinity", which he says is particularly prevalent in the hip hop industry.

He added: "I've dealt with it, particularly because I collaborate with a lot of hip hop artists and I think hip hop is such a masculine, homosocial environment. In the studios, it's usually all men, on tour, it's all men. I think because of that, it's an environment where toxic masculinity can flourish.

"With Jay on his last album [4:44], with him confronting the things that were going on in his relationship and talking about therapy and really being introspective ... all of us feel emotions, pain and hurt. I think it's healthy that we acknowledge some of that."

Meanwhile, John has confessed he was "super shy" growing up but says music helped him gain confidence.

He told People magazine: "In high school, I was two years younger than everybody in my class so not only was I not athletic but I was short and just this little 12-year-old showing up at high school, hadn't gone through puberty yet. I was super shy ...

"Expressing myself musically was the way I started connecting with people. It made me more confident. I knew I could get up on stage and just move people."