Quddus talks 'Duets,' says 'Frank Ocean is a hero'

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Will there be a season two for Duets?  

From your mouth to God’s ears. I have no idea if there will be a season two or not, but I hope so. In the end it’s all about ratings though, and the show has done pretty well so far.

What are a couple of things that you learned about John Legend while filming Duets that you didn’t know about him before?

It’s obvious that he is incredibly talented vocally, but John Legend is also an incredibly smart man. He surrounds himself with very brilliant people. He treats his team like they are an extension of the brand that he is, and I think that’s how it should be. For example, a lot of artists will schedule a conference call with their team to discuss their next projects, but John Legend actually flies out his team so they can all meet in person and have scheduled roundtable discussions about what’s next for the business that is John Legend.

Also he knows how to throw a great party. I went to one of his parties July 4th and it was unreal. Everybody was there, including Frank Ocean, who just came out the day before.

So what’s your take on Frank Ocean coming out? Some people say that him going public with his sexuality around the same time of his new album coming out, might just be a ploy for album sales. Do you agree with that?

I think Frank’s Ocean is such a talented musician, singer and songwriter. I have been a fan of his for a long time. I think the Hip-Hop community needed a bit of shaking up, and needs to become more real, and Frank Ocean is bringing that right now. You can’t be mad at him for that.

When I arrived to John Legend’s party, when I first walked in I saw Frank Ocean sitting by himself, all solo dolo, I could tell that he was probably feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders after just coming out in the public the day before. I went up to him and I was like, “man I’m so proud of you. I don’t know if you realize it but you are a hero to so many people.” I had brought a bottle of sake with me to the party so after we talked a little bit and I gave him some encouragement I was like “let’s have a drink,” and we did.

I’m just so happy that he is able to be feel free now to express and just be the person that he is his.

There is a lot of buzz around who are going to be the new judges on American Idol now that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are leaving. Who do you think should be the new judges?

To be honest, I haven’t watched the show since the first season when Kelly Clarkson won, so I don’t really care who the new judges are. But I think they should hire someone that actually has legitimate history in the business and isn’t just there to give overly critical critiques and say crazy things just to create sound bites.

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC