April 2008

Article

As he prepares to release his third album in as many years, R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo says he is "a little bored" with urban music.

The genre has served him well, to be sure. His first two albums have both been certified platinum, and he has co-written such monster hits as Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," which spent 10 weeks atop the Hot 100 singles chart in 2006.

But "Year of the Gentleman," due June 24 from Def Jam, finds the 28-year-old Arkansas native -- real name Shaffer Smith -- venturing into "more worldly" territory.

"There's some stuff on there that sounds like something the Beatles might've done," Ne-Yo commented. "There's some stuff on there that sounds like something Billy Joel might've done. I can't do just straight urban music no more, because to be completely honest with you, I'm a little bored with it. I'm just moving with what music excites me now."

An early preview does indeed indicate something a little different from traditional R&B: "Closer" is a Stargate-produced club track with pulsing strobe-light synths and a high-energy house beat that calls to mind Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music."

"So You Can Cry" sports a mellow, easy-listening vibe, with Ne-Yo making a priceless rhyme of "pity party" and "calamari." Guitars and cymbals figure prominently in "What's the Matter," which Ne-Yo likens to "a Beatles-style rock record."

But will the little girls understand? Def Jam wants to expand Ne-Yo's audience beyond its core of 16- to 24-year-old females.

"The records he's written don't just speak to young black girls," says Ashaunna Ayars, Def Jam's VP of marketing. "We're trying to build an adult audience that appreciates his music as well."

Part of the strategy involves Ne-Yo opening for Alicia Keys on her two-month North American tour, which begins Saturday in Hampton, Va.

"That partnership gets him in front of the more mature fan base we're after," Ayars says.

But Ne-Yo is anxious about overdoing the stylistic experimentation.

"My worry is that I'll do something that's so far left of what I've already done that it's going to go over my fans' heads. I pray that my fans are smarter than that."

And he hopes they will understand that if he keeps writing songs like "So Sick" or "Sexy Love" or "Because of You," both he and they will eventually get bored.

"So Sick" -- a song that slyly predicted its own inescapability on the radio -- reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It was drawn from his 2006 debut "In My Own Words," which has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. His follow-up, "Because of You," has sold 935,000 copies since its release last May.

He says he always envisaged the third album would mark a musical departure, and was expecting "to chill for a minute and really take some time to figure out what I wanted that to be. Fortunately, it didn't take me that long, which is why the album's coming out now."
[Edited 4/21/08 9:46am]

I like his new single... it's a different sound for him

Closer

The only reason he's bored with it is because all of his shit sounds the same. He should focus on HIMSELF not being boring instead of the music itself.

MuthaFunka said:

exactly, it's boring because he's one of the main culprits


ole youth minister lookin ass muthafukka

MuthaFunka said:

He should focus on writing only. He sucks as a singer.

bboy87 said:

Timmy84 said:

Seems to me it is natural for the writer to want to express/sing their work themselves, and it's not like he is terrible (ahem, Pharrell).

Cinnie said:

Well compare to him, he's actually great. Apart, he rots.

bboy87 said:

You kill't it with that one, dawg! He does look like that!

MuthaFunka said:

come on yall! sunday school starts in 5 minutes...and we can't be late!

bboy87 said:

bboy87 said:

LMAO! OH SHIT!

MuthaFunka said:

I STAY BRINGIN' THE HEAT!

bboy87 said:

That's cold-blooded but damn if it isn't true

Ne-Yo is about as suspect as Nelly and Diddy in this picture:

bboy87 said:

I've been thinking Ne-Yo is part of the "Rainbow" coalition. I'd welcome him
[Edited 4/21/08 13:12pm]

purplecam said:

and has a lemon head

purplecam said:

think?!


purplecam, you KNEW

Man yall on here talkin shit and this boy is actually trying to change his game. What the hell yall want?

paisleypark4 said:

I want that Sugarbabes you said you were gonna send me, dammit!

bboy87 said:

They Rock The Beat together


Sorry papi, my computer broke down. I havent been able to copy nothin 4 nobody

The end of his career

bboy87 said:

Yeah I did! My gaydar rang off the hook early with that fool! Family recognises family

paisleypark4 said:

for him to just go away.
real doers dont announce that they are gonna change the game or face of music, they just do it

paisleypark4 said:

mediafire that shit!

purplecam said:

This guy I went to high school said he had the best gaydar


Some dude who we all knew was on the DL walked past him one time and he started acting like a police siren

horatio said:

THANK YOU!!!!! I happen to like Ne-Yo but him having to announce that he's changing the game tells me that his music is going to be more of the same shit. Usher said the same thing in 2003-2004 for Confessions and that shit sounded like all the other shit out there :WACK WACK WIGGITY WACK! Ne-Yo's about to get his ass handed to him for making a statement like this if he don't bring it and something tells me he won't. I hope I'm wrong.

bboy87 said:

Let me tell ya, the longer I live, the greater my gaydar gets. Something will come out with him in time, you watch. Ne-Yo needs to come all the way out of the closet cause he ain't fooling my behind.
[Edited 4/21/08 14:00pm]

purplecam said:

HE SURE DID SAY THAT!!