Cool!
- Lip-synching.
Omarion.
(this guy pulls no punches!)
- Amerie.
Legs!
- B.E.T.
Black Entertainment Television.
- Luther Vandross.
Legend.
- Choose one: iPod or Radio Station.
Ipod.
- Songwriting or Singing?
Songwriting.
- Ballads or up-tempo songs?
Ballads.
- Best New Artist or Album of the Year?
Album of the Year.
- Making the Band or American Idol?
Making the Band.
- How did you get the name Ne-yo?
My name came from a producer friend of mine. His name is Big D Evans. He did stuff like Tupac’s “Brenda’s Got A Baby.”
- Going from background to foreground, how has the transition been?
It’s been a difficult transition. I’ve never been the dude to care about name brand clothes [or] aviator lenses. I never gave a damn about any of that stuff, but it’s been a fight between my management, Jay and L.A.. As an artist you gotta look like a million bucks every time you walk out of the house and it’s hard. Like I tell everyone I am slowly but surely learning to love it.
- Moving from songwriter to singer is huge. What happened to make you say you are uniquely qualified to sing these songs?
I honestly believe it’s that I have something to say. And no one is going to be able to say it the way that I do. I don’t feel that anyone else can deliver the messages in these songs the way that I can.
- I hear that you write, sing, arrange, etc. What song on this album is pure evidence of that?
My second single “So Sick” is a true to life song. It’s about a relationship I was in.
- Have you ever worked under someone you thought was less talented than you? No names.
Yes. It was real interesting to say the least. And the person was real mouthy and had an attitude and real stank about every. I was thinking, ‘You ain’t gonna sing this song as good as me anyway.’ But you have to remain professional. I’m not the dude that’s gonna bark at someone in the studio. ‘You’re singing my song.’
- Did Mario sing “Let Me Love You” the way you thought he should?
Mario sang “Let Me Love You” better than I than I expected him to.
- How do you feel about the current state of men in R&B?
With Luther passing, that was definitely a great loss for the R&B community. I honestly feel that there aren’t a lot of people doing R&B the way that it used to be like Jodeci and Guy and Boyz II Men. No one is doing it like that anymore.
- What was the last CD you actually bought?
Mariah Carey’s Emancipation of Mimi. There’s a lot of really good songs on there.
- Give us a one line bio?
Ne-Yo is quality R&B music.
- Music artists seem you be getting younger and younger. The music world seems adore its legends, how do feel about artists like Diana Ross being dropped from a label or artist like Patti and her transitions with Def Jam?
People aren’t doing music for the love of it anymore. A lot of people do this because there is money to be made and fast. That tends to be the motivating factor. They think people aren’t gonna feel a Diana Ross because she is older and no one is gonna buy her music.
- If you could do a mash up, who would you choose to work with?
Prince of course.
Read more vibe.com online exclusives.
home