Interview Time: Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo

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Remember that thing called love? Ne-Yo brings it back with his second album selectively named ‘Because of you’. The masterful songwriter has evolved in all areas of love, determined to reveal his maturity and his journey to the current state.

For someone as fortunate to write classic songs for Beyonce, Mary J Blige and let’s not surpass that ever so long lasting hit for Mario, Ne-Yo remains as humble and excited to share his success. Lena Nunkoo received a very warm welcome from the insightful performer.

L: How you feeling today?

Ne-yo: Sometimes I wonder if I sit still long enough I will fall asleep.

L: You don’t get much sleep then?

Ne-yo: (taps his can) Red bull!

L: Ok, Your here with regard to your new single, tell me a bit about that.

Ne-yo: Because of you – in a nutshell is about the ex-boyfriend that you have that …you know there is no future in the relationship, there is no reason for you to speak at all. But, if he calls you at 4 o’clock in the morning you still find your way over to his house.

Because of you is about the girl that you are cheating on your current girlfriend with and you feel really really guilty about it but can’t control it. You can’t help it, this person has become a drug, this person has become an addiction. I’ve been that guy before; more times that I care to remember and err… I was kinda banking on that there are other guys out there and girls who have been that person too.

L: I’m sure there is!

Ne-yo: sure right!

L: Why do you choose to predominately write and sing love songs?

Ne-yo: Well I think that love is one thing that I am inspired by, you know its always gonna be around its always gonna be an interesting topic mainly because nobody knows anything about it but everybody knows everything about it know what I mean? I think it’s the one thing on the face of this planet than can be the greatest thing and yet the worse thing in your life all in the same hour! And that’s why!

L: You’ve obviously had experience in this area as proven through you’re music…

Ne-yo: Oooh Yeah!

L: Is there a special someone in your life right now?

Ne-yo: (casually)No…no no no no no ermm…I’ve learnt through much trial and error that what takes for a relationship to work I don’t have the time to do right now. And I know that might sound a little bit of a cop out because what we want to make work we make work so basically what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to make it work right now (laughs) you know because its added work other than what I am already doing, so I’m being lazy in the love department.

L: You have a certain kind of style that you have created – can we expect the same from your new album or are there any surprises?

Ne-yo: Well with this new album one thing that you will definitely notice is that it is a lot more up-tempo this time round and that’s just because I’m in a different head space now. The first album I was kinda going through a messy on again off again, I love you, I hate you type relationship and the music reflected that, you could hear in the music that, that’s what I was going through because every song was about breaking up or about being sad or depressed or having sex and for most part that was who I was… at the time! But now! Now that I am single and have come to wraps that I am single I am actually enjoying being single. You learn a lot about yourself when you kick it with yourself for a while. I’m more contempt as a person you know period! and you know, I think the music reflects that so that’s one main thing I wanted to tackle with this next album. Just showing the world that I have evolved in the love department, in the human department.

Another thing that I wanted to tackle with this record is, trying to let people know who I am as a person because with the first record people got to know about my song writing abilities, my outlook on music, nobody really got to know me! You know the guy behind the music erm, it was brought to my attention if two people were to have a conversation about Ne-Yo and after they say “oh wow I love the first album he’s a really great songwriter” what else do they say?.........nothing! Because there is nothing else that nobody knows. So with this second album I got a lot more personal, for example, one thing I did with this record I did what I like to call unofficial tributes to the people I look up to in the business. For example the first single ‘Because of you’ sounds a lot like something Michael Jackson would do… unofficial tribute to Michael Jackson. Throughout the record you’ll hear stuff that sounds like something Prince might have done, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie - all the people who I feel are responsible for my sound.

L: What does music mean for Ne-Yo?

Ne-yo: Music is me man, music is who I am. A lot of people do music where as I am music I write about things that happen in my life. I wear my heart on my sleeve so that other guys don’t have to. Like, everybody knows RnB music is predominantly for women – that’s been established, but I do have a male fan base and a lot of guys walk up to me and say “with your song ‘So Sick’ you basically said to my girl what I couldn’t” that’s a compliment to me and that’s why I do it.

L: How do you feel about the current state of the music business, is it going in your direction?

Ne-yo: Not completely, I would like to see the whole business go back to the days of The Rat Pack where you couldn’t be your average Joe off the street to get a record deal. You had to be the full package you had to be an entertainer you had to know how to sing, how to dance, how to act, whereas lately, well for the last year or so music has been leaning back to talent where for a minute it was about how good you looked with your shirt off-lets be honest – how cute you were in a little skirt – not about could you sing at all. But it is leaning back towards talent where people like Robin Thick are getting some recognition now, people like John Legend – Beyonce killing the game with everything she does.

L: On the topic of Beyonce – you co-wrote Irreplaceable, how did that come about?

Ne-yo: The song was not originally written for Beyonce, I let Beyonce hear to it and she loved it and she cut it she put that Beyonce spin on it. If you listen to my demo and you listen to the finished version its almost two completely different songs because she put a melody here that wasn’t there, she did a riff here that wasn’t there, so she did melody work and vocal arrangement – I did the lyrics jam it together and you get what you hear on the radio – seven thousand times a day.

L: The Lyrics were written from a woman’s perspective how did you tap into the female psyche?

Ne-yo: You know what’s funny – not originally, when I first did the song I wrote it from a male’s perspective which is why that it’s so funny that it became a female anthem. When I first did it, it was the guy telling the chick ‘to the left, to the left’ but when I listen back on it I was like no guy is gonna be dumb enough to sing this song, your basically chewing away your entire audience so I flipped around for a women, let Beyonce hear it…

L: Did you have anyone else in mind besides Beyonce?

Ne-yo: We actually let a few other female artists hear it but nobody would mess with it because they were afraid of it, because its not your typical RnB song it has that guitar in it that sounds a lot like some country music so people were kind of scared of it which is why I respect Beyonce as much as I do because she has always been the one to take a chance, she is always the one who is trying to do the next thing, something different.

L: No that you have come out of the shadows, how are you finding the industry being in the limelight?

Ne-yo: Well like anything it has its pro’s and its con’s, I would definitely say more pro’s than con’s I will never be the dude to complain about things because no. 1. the business didn’t chose me I chose the business so if was to complain about the lack of privacy or whatever to anybody I would say quit! That’s the part of being a celebrity that I don’t do- you’re sitting there complaining about what? Your one of the more favourite people on the face of the planet and gods eyes and your complaining – oh poor me I’m worth a billion dollar’s – shut up! That’s one of the reasons why I named the album ‘because of you’, the album is called ‘because of you’ because I fell like I’m one of the few people in this business that still understands what it is to appreciate the fame I’ve come across a lot of different artists who be like – I aint taking no pictures or signing autographs and that pisses me off because this person that is asking for your autograph is the reason you are who you are, if this person doesn’t buy your record – you have no career, your just another dude singing. So I am one of those people who realises I am who I am because of you.

L: You’ve obviously been working very hard with a short break and dropping another album…

Ne-yo: Well that’s just the state of the business right now, at one point you could take 2 years off and come back and if the album is quality you can slide right back in that slot, whereas now! Its love you one second – hate you the next, people will forget about you I didn’t feel that I had stamped, that I had carved out my initial to take too much time off. Now after this record who knows depending on that this record does I might take a year off and write for other people. And give people an opportunity to miss me.

L: Song writing or singing?

Ne-yo: Ooh that is the question. Umm….a year ago I would have said song writing, that’s my passion that’s my comfort, a year ago I never knew what it was like to stand on a stage in Japan with 20 thousand people that don’t speak English but can sing the words to ‘So Sick’, that’s not a feeling that you can ignore, I can’t even put that into words- like I almost cried that night. So now I don’t know if I can chose between the two I really don’t.

L: How do you feel about the British industry?

Ne-yo: I don’t know much about it but I heard that it is harsh, not much room to move around – I’ve heard.

L: Anyone you’d like to work with?

Ne-yo: Corrine Bailey Rae, I really really like her I think she’s absolutely talented- I like Robbie Williams (laughs) he’s err… he’s a character!

L: You Star in the movie Stomp The Yard, is acting your next move?

N: It’s funny I never looked into it like I wanted to do it. That movie came along through a relationship with err…. Ok the first movie I actually ever did was Save The Last Dance Part 2, and that came as an accident I had more to do with the soundtrack than the movie, they ask me if I had done any acting and would I like to try- I said no and yeah sure why not. But I met Columbus Short who co-starred in Save The Last Dance and Starred in Stomp The Yard – so you know we became friends real cool so he then said my name to them – I fell in love with the whole process I really had a lot of fun.

L: If you weren’t in the entertainment business at all what would you be doing?

Ne-yo: Jeeez, welcome to McDonalds may I take your order? (Cracks a smile) Errm… I didn’t really give myself much of a back up plan – its crazy I never wanted to do anything else from a kid from age 6, I never wanted to nothing else but music.