John Legend's Surprising Connection to His The Voice Advisor Jazmine Sullivan Revealed

Watch: John Legend Reveals How "The Voice" Contestants Inspire Him

John Legend and Jazmine Sullivan knew each other long before teaming up on the latest season of The Voice.

"We go way back from the Philly days," Legend exclusively told E! News about his season 22 advisor on the NBC competition series. "She's still in Philly, but I went to college in Philly and spent a lot of time on the music scene there."

The "All of Me" singer shared that he would often watch a young Sullivan perform at open mic nights in the city and was amazed by her talent from the start, saying, "We were like, 'Who is this 15-year-old sounding like this?'"

Having recently collaborated with the two-time Grammy winner for the song "Love" off his new album LEGEND, the singer knew his Team Legend contestants would be just as excited as he was to work alongside Sullivan.

"I love when we have 'singer singers,'" the 43-year-old shared. "Her and Brandy are two of those artists where I know other singers love them as singers, and I just know each of them are gonna flip when they see her as their advisor."

Taking on the role of advisor brought along several challenges for Sullivan, the biggest of which she revealed is having to give "constructive criticism."

"You don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, especially if they look up to you, so that was definitely hard to do," she told E! News. "Once you push past that and say, 'Whatever I give them is meant to make them grow,' then you know you just got to do it."

Luckily, Sullivan said Legend is "such a natural" when it comes to sharing advice with contestants, joking that he goes into "choir director mode" when giving critiques on performances.

Hear more from the duo—including how Legend finds himself inspired by the show's music industry hopefuls—in the full clip above.

The Voice Blind Auditions conclude tonight, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. on NBC, followed by the first of this season's Battle Rounds on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

New episodes of The Voice premiere Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)