BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Shaffer Chimere Smith (Born October 18, 1982), known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Ne-Yo began his career as a songwriter in 2004, when he penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario. The single's successful release in the United States prompted an informal meeting between Ne-Yo and Def Jam's label head, and the signing of a recording contract.
Early life
Ne-Yo was born in Camden, Arkansas. His mother is of African American and Chinese descent, and his father is African American. Both of his parents were musicians. As a young child, he was raised by his mother after she separated from his father.[2] In hopes of better opportunity, his mother relocated the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. While in the Las Vegas Academy, Smith adopted the stage name "GoGo" and joined an R&B group called Envy, who appeared during amateur night on Showtime at the Apollo[3] and on the MTV's The Cut[4] (hosted by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC).[5] The group disbanded in 2000, and Smith continued to write songs for other artists before starting his solo career.
Music career
1998–2005: Career beginnings
At an early age Ne-Yo, emerged on the recording industry scene as member of the Romford-based quartet, Envy, which featured Chimna Orji as its leading woman.[6] After the group disbanded in 2000, Columbia Records signed Ne-Yo, but the label dropped him before he could release his already-recorded first album.[7] American singer Marques Houston happened to hear "That Girl", which Ne-Yo had planned to release as his debutsingle off his then-unreleased album. Houston re-recorded the song and released it as a single for his 2003 album MH.[6] The release of the song led to Ne-Yo being recognized as a top songwriter.[6]
For the next two years, Ne-Yo continued writing songs, some of which have not been officially released.[6] He contributed songs to American singer Teedra Moses's 2004 album Complex Simplicity, Christina Milian's It's About Time, and the American boy band Youngstown,[8] though all of which failed to give Ne-Yo much mainstream attention.[6] Ne-Yo has also contributed songs to singers Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans and Musiq, among others.[9]
A breakthrough came when Ne-Yo wrote "Let Me Love You" for American singer Mario. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and later stayed at the top spot for nine weeks.[8] After the successful release, Tina Davis, former A&R representative for Def Jam Recordings, arranged an informal meeting with label head L.A. Reid.[6] Despite not seeking a new contract at the time, then-CEO of Def Jam Jay-Z signed Ne-Yo to a new deal after he performed for the label's executives.[7][9]
The stagename "Ne-Yo" was coined by Big D Evans, a producer with whom Ne-Yo once worked,[10] because Evans claimed that Ne-Yo sees music as Neo sees the matrix.[11]
2006–07: In My Own Words and Because of You
In early 2006, Ne-Yo released his debut album, In My Own Words, through Def Jam. Boosted by its popular second single, So Sick, the album debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling over 301,000 copies in the first week.[12] During the same week, the single had reached number one on the |Billboard Hot 100.[13] Later singles released were "When You're Mad" and "Sexy Love", which peaked at number 15 and number 7, respectively.[14] The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) for a shipment of over one million units.[15]
His second album, Because of You, was released on May 1, 2007, and, fueled by its lead single, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 251,000 copies in the United States; the feat gave Ne-Yo his second number-one album.[16] The first single from the platinum-selling album was the title track, which peaked at the number-two spot.[14] Despite the success of "Because of You", later singles released charted lower and were unable to reach the Top 20.[14] The album has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of over one million units.[15] In December 2007, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a fund-raising concert for the then presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.[17]
2008–10: Year of the Gentleman and Libra Scale
Ne-Yo's third album, Year of the Gentleman, was released internationally on August 5, 2008. Speaking to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Ne-Yo explained the thinking behind its title: "To me 'Year Of The Gentleman' is all about a persona, a swag and a charm. I made an assessment of the music business. And, in my personal opinion, the essence of the gentleman is absent right now. Everybody kinda looks the same, everybody's kinda doing the same thing, everybody's kinda rude and full of themselves. Whereas a gentleman is calm, courteous, kind, charming... So that title basically represents me trying to lead by example, and showing these cats what it is to be a gentleman in this business still."[18]
The album sold 250,000 copies in its first week in the United States, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number two.[19] Reviews for the album were positive: in one of which, Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone magazine wrote that Year of the Gentleman is "actually a superb concept album about what a great boyfriend he [Ne-Yo] can be".[20]
The first two singles, Closer and Miss Independent, peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards, Closer for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Miss Independent for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.[21] Year of the Gentleman has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of more than one million copies.[15] The third single, Mad, peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On August 12, 2008, the New Kids on the Block released "Single", the second single from their fifth studio album, The Block, which is a duet with Ne-Yo. Ne-Yo included a solo version of the song on his album Year of the Gentleman.
In December 2008, Ne-Yo performed at the Kennedy Center Honors as part of the tribute to Barbra Streisand; he sang and danced to the song Lover Come Back to Me, which Streisand recorded on her second album in 1963.
In 2009, Billboard ranked him as the 57th Artist of the 2000s decade.[22] In 2012, Ne-Yo was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame which honors gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs[23]
On September 2, 2009, Ne-Yo released greatest hits album Ne-Yo: The Collection in Japan.[24] The album was also released with a limited edition CD+DVD edition complete with the music videos of singles.[25] It debuted at number four on Japan Oricon weekly albums chart, selling 55,625 copies in the first week.[26]
On June 2010, Ne-Yo released the single "Beautiful Monster" which became Ne-Yo's #1 single on the UK Singles Chart. It became #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
On October 8, 2010, Ne-Yo performed some of his songs from the new album at P.C. Richard & Son Theater in New York City that was hosted by iheartradio.[27] Ne-Yo made an appearance at New York Comic Con to announce he was collaborating with Stan Lee for a Libra Scale comic.[28] Ne-Yo also met with fans for pictures and autographs in the Cultyard of the comic con.[29] The second and third singles released off of the album are Champagne Life and One in a Million, respectively.
Libra Scale, was released on November 22, 2010. It received critical acclaim from music critics, but was a commercial disappointment, debuting at number nine on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling less than all of his previous three studio albums. Ne-Yo stated: "The album is based upon this short story which basically follows these three characters who are forced to choose between money-power-and-fame versus love. Which in turn is why I've called it 'Libra Scale'. You know, its whole concept is based on that question of morality – that, if you weighed it all out on a libra scale, which one of those two options would you choose?".[30] Libra Scale sold 112,000 copies in its first week. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart, while debuting at number one on the UK R&B Chart.
2011–12: R.E.D.
On February 25, 2011, while on his tour in the United Kingdom, he announced his new album would be called Love and Passion and would be released in September, but this was proven false as the title was tentative. American rapper Fabolous, said in an interview that he is planning a collaboration album with Ne-Yo as well. Ne-Yo has also written songs for Mary J. Blige, JB, Beyoncé Knowles, Monica, Alexandra Burke, Cheryl Cole and Willow Smith's upcoming albums. Ne-Yo starred in two motion pictures, Red Tails, a remake of the 1990s HBO film, The Tuskegee Airmen, released in early 2012, and Battle: Los Angeles, which was released in the United States on March 11, 2011. Ne-Yo has already finished writing songs for American pop singer and Roc Nation artist Alexis Jordan and her self-titled debut album as well asJennifer Hudson for her second studio album, I Remember Me, which had a North American release on March 22, 2011. Ne-Yo appeared in the children's preschool show The Fresh Beat Band and is one of the few artists not to cancel appearances in the wake of the 2011 Japan earthquake.[31]
In the spring of 2011, Ne-Yo collaborated with American rapper Pitbull and Nayer on his single, Give Me Everything, which peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Ne-Yo his second U.S. number-one single since 2006's So Sick and his first as a guest artist. Ne-Yo has also revealed an interview that he would like to collaborate with Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Drake on his new album.
In January 2012, it was reported that Ne-Yo along with his label imprint Compound Entertainment had moved from Def Jam Recordings toMotown Records.[32][33] He was also appointed Senior Vice President of A&R of Motown, where he will serve "...as a producer and mentor to the label's artists, as well as seeking out and signing new talent to the label."[34] Ne-Yo is set to release his fifth studio album, R.E.D. (as in "Realizing Every Dream") on September 18, 2012.[35][36] The album was initially titled The Cracks in Mr. Perfect.[37] The album's first official single, "Lazy Love" was released on June 12, 2012 and peaked at number forty-two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)", co-written by Australian singer-songwriter Sia was released as the second single on July 31, 2012.[38] Because of Kevin McCall's new album and the song Ne-Yo will be in, Love Time, is not yet released because he and his friend Chris Brown will make an appearance on Ne-Yo's R.E.D. album in the song called What I Do, which they all will be involved in writing the beat says Ne-Yo, who was interviewed by TMZ in New York. "I expect this to be a banger in clubs for the slow songs and to get Ne-Yo his first top 10 song in years," said Chris Brown, after a celebrity basketball game with Ne-Yo, Kevin Hart, and other celebrities in the month of July.
On August 29, 2012, Ne-Yo was one of the headliners alongside R&B recording artist Melanie Fiona, in the Summer Beats Concert Series, otherwise known as the MJ Birthday Concert, which was on what would have been the 54th birthday of the late American pop icon Michael Jackson which was sponsored by and live-streamed by Pepsi and Billboard. He performed a medley of hits, as well as performing The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal and I Just Can't Stop Loving You from Jackson's best-selling 1987 album, Bad, in preparation for the reissue of Bad 25 on September 18, 2012. The concert took place at Gotham Hall in New York City.[39] R.E.D. was released in the United Kingdom on November 5, and in North America on November 6, 2012.[40]
Ne-Yo was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame which honors gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs[23]
2013-present: Non Fiction
In March 2013, Ne-Yo collaborated with Akon on David Guetta's single from his 2012 album Nothing But The Beat 2.0 "Play Hard" In April, Ne-Yo announced that he and Cher Lloyd are to collaborate on their single It's All Good, which eventually was featured on Fruttare commercials.[41]
Celine Dion and Ne-Yo recorded "Incredible" for Dion's album Loved Me Back to Life (2013). Incredible was released as a single in February 2014 and the music video premiered in June 2014.[42]
On May 29, 2014, Ne-Yo announced his sixth upcoming studio album would be Non Fiction which is due for a release in September 30. At the same time, Ne-Yo announced another new single "Money Can't Buy"[43]
Other ventures
Songwriting and production
Ne-Yo frequently co-writes with Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen of the Norwegian production team Star gate. Ne-Yo met them in a hallway at Sony Music Studios in New York, and having known the team produces R&B records, he decided to collaborate with them. The collective's early works were tracks off In My Own Words including So Sick.[44]
Aside from working on his own album, Ne-Yo also collaborates with several other artists. His works include: Rihanna's top-ten singlesUnfaithful, Russian Roulette" and her number-one hit "Take a Bow, Mario Vazquez's Gallery, Paula DeAnda's Walk Away (Remember Me), and Beyoncé Knowles' Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Irreplaceable, which stayed at the top of the chart for ten consecutive weeks.[45] He wrote the song I'm You for Leona Lewis's debut album Spirit, and is currently writing songs for her next album and for the debut album of fellow X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. He has also been working with Sugababes for their seventh album, with memberKeisha Buchanan confirming that Ne-Yo had written a song called 'No More You' for their album.[46] In 2010, he dueted with Mariah Carey on 'Angel's Cry', a song on her cancelled album, Angels Advocate. Ne-Yo has also written songs for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Carrie Underwood, Anastacia, Ciara, Corbin Bleu, Enrique Iglesias and Dima Bilan.[45] He also collaborated with Lindsay Lohan on her new material, having already finished "Bossy", a pre-single for her new album Spirit in the Dark.[47] Ne-Yo confirmed that he had been contacted by producer will.i.am to work on what would have been Michael Jackson's new album.[48] However, at the time of Jackson's death, Ne-Yo's collaborations with him had yet to move past the writing stage.[49] In an interview in 2010 he said since Jackson's death he's been confused as what to do with the songs, as he feels that selling them to another artist or even releasing the songs himself would be disrespectful to Jackson legacy.[50] In 2009, he wrote Truth (Saigo no Shinjitsu) for Japanese pop group w-inds..[51]
Ne-Yo ventured out to open his own recording studio called Carrington House in Atlanta, Georgia.[52] He also had started his own production company, Compound Entertainment, in 2007, and has hired several producers and songwriters in hopes of turning it into a full-fledge record label. It successfully became a label, and artists such as RaVaughn, Paula Campbell, Sixx John, Adrienne Bailon and Shanell are now associated with Compound.[7][52]
Television
In 2011 Ne-Yo was approached by Cartoon Network to help create an animated series. Ne-Yo announced that the show would be titled I Heart Tuesday and that he had created it for his sister.[53] He also stated that he wanted to avoid having the show resemble the anime art style of The Boondocks due to the potential cost of the show's animation style.[53][54]
Ne-Yo also appeared in an episode of the seventh season of CSI: NY as a hitman, under his birth name of Shaffer Smith.
In 2011, Ne-Yo appeared in an episode of The Fresh Beat Band as himself.
Philanthropy
Ne-Yo is very passionate about the arts and children, and has shown his support for Little Kids Rock by filming a PSA for the organization.[55]
Personal life
Family
In 2005, Jessica White, Ne-Yo's girlfriend at the time gave birth to a boy, naming him Chimere after Ne-Yo's middle name.[45] Though Ne-Yo believed he was the father, he later discovered the child was not his. He is now in litigation with the child's mother.[56][57]
In June 2010, Ne-Yo told Ebony that he and his girlfriend, Monyetta Shaw, were expecting their first child together, a girl due early in 2011.[58] Shaw gave birth early to a girl, Madilyn Grace Smith, on November 12, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. Announcing the birth, Ne-Yo said of his first child, "I've been in love before but this feels like nothing I've ever felt...Like I'm in love for the first time."[59]
In September 2011, Ne-Yo revealed that he was expecting his second child with Monyetta Shaw. Shaw gave birth to a boy, Mason Evan Smith, on October 9, 2011.[60]
Legal issues
- On February 19, 2008, Ne-Yo was arrested for reckless driving while driving through Cobb County, Georgia in his 2006 Range Rover. It was reported that he was doing about 150 mph, 100 mph over the speed limit. He was cited for driving without a valid license. The case went to trial on June 2, 2008 where Ne-Yo pleaded guilty to driving without a license and no contest to the reckless driving charge. He was subsequently sentenced to 24 hours community service.[61]
- On August 22, 2011, Ne-Yo was sued along with rapper Pitbull and Dutch DJ Afrojack by actress Lindsay Lohan, claiming that their song "Give Me Everything" referenced her by name in the lyrics. Pitbull won the lawsuit.[62]
Discography
Main article: Ne-Yo discography
- In My Own Words (2006)
- Because of You (2007)
- Year of the Gentleman (2008)
- Libra Scale (2010)
- R.E.D. (2012)
- Non Fiction (2014)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Save the Last Dance 2 | Mixx | Direct to video |
| 2007 | Nick Cannon/Wild 'N Out | Himself | Improv Comedy |
| 2007 | Stomp the Yard | Rich Brown | Film[63] |
| 2011 | CSI: NY | The hitman[64] | Episode 7.14 "Smooth Criminal"[65] |
| The Fresh Beat Band | Himself | Special episode "Band in a Jam"[66] | |
| Battle: Los Angeles | Specks | Film[67] | |
| 2012 | Empire Girls: Julissa & Adrienne | Himself | Reality-Show |
| Red Tails | Andrew 'Smoky' Salem | Film[68] | |
| I Heart Tuesdays | None | (TV), creator | |
| The X Factor | Guest Mentor | ||
| Never Mind the Buzz cocks | Guest Host | ||
| 90210 | Guest star |
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