The interview was destined to happen. It was written somewhere in the cards that Ne-yo, the savior of new school R & B, grace the cover of the third annual “Who’s Next” issue. Def Jam has been deliberately avoiding Parlé in an effort to limit their artists to only the glossiest most expensive magazines, but still that didn’t stop the link between the future of entertainment news and the future of R & B music.

In all honesty the journey to the cover began for me in December 2004. While interviewing R & B’s prince, Mario, he explained that all credit for his super hit “Let Me Love You,” went to super-producer Scott Storch, and this young songwriter from straight out of Arkansas.

The song writer he referred to was named Ne-yo. Never having heard the name Ne-yo before, I simply gave it a nod and made a note to self to find out who this new songwriter- extraordinaire was. I soon forgot in my list of activities, only to be reminded later. The name didn’t come up again until much later during one of my few conversations with a Def Jam publicist.

Again I made a note of it, but didn’t pay it much attention. Not until the November issue, with another Parlé cover story artist, Remy Ma, did the name Ne-yo really stick. Remy mentioned that Ne-yo was the real deal and that he joined her on a track on her album that was a true hit. The chorus, she explained, was sure to blow listeners minds. She gave him such a serious stamp of approval, seemingly unintentionally, that I knew I had to find him. From that point, the chase was on.

Ne-yo’s path to the cover of Parlé was similar. He probably hadn’t heard crazy stories about Parlé from other artists, but his grind led him right to us. Born Shaffer C. Smith in Arkansas, his mother moved him to Las Vegas, Nevada when he was young in hopes for a better life. At just 7 years-old he began writing music. “I just always loved music, my whole family does music, my moms sings, my dad sings, my sister sings, grandparents, its always been something I wanted to do.,” Ne-yo declared of his life-long passion. He kept his talent to the confines of his family for as long as possible, but in the eleventh grade things changed for Ne-yo in a major way. At a talent competition Ne-yo ripped the stage leaving his friends in awe. They were the first people to tell Ne-yo that he could take this career really far. “I didn’t do it for accolades, I just did it because I loved to do it.” That hasn’t stopped Ne-yo from making a huge impact on the music industry.

Ne-yo entered the industry as a serious songwriter, about four years ago. The first major song he wrote was Marques Houston’s ‘That Girl.’ Prior to that he wrote songs for Youngstown‘s debut album, Let’s Roll. Since impacting urban radio with on MH’s solo debut Ne-yo’s written songs for Musiq, Christina Millian (also vocally arranged ‘Dip It Low’), Mary J Blige and he also has songs on the international versions of Chris Brown’s and Faith Evans’ albums.

Ne-yo’s setup single ‘Stay’ featuring Peedi Peedi was the first song to impact radio and video outlets in Summer ’05, but it was his official first single “So Sick’ which set off Ne-yo’s singing career. To the surprise of many Ne-yo’s deal with Def Jam wasn’t his first deal with a major label. He was signed Columbia Records a short time before the Marques Houston record premiered. His first album, which was ready for release under the guidance of Columbia’s staff, was shelved for two years.

An album where he co-wrote every song on that project as well. According to Ne-yo, Columbia Records just wasn’t ready for the album. The label was going through a state of chaos, leading him to work with nine different A & R’s. He realized that he would go nowhere if he stayed on board, so he asked to be released. Columbia knew they had a star on their hands, so their only stipulation was that they keep the album. After being shelved for two years Ne-yo could have scraped plans for a solo career, but he kept his hopes up. He knew he would get the right deal, he just didn’t know how the deal would come. “I knew that music was what I was put here to do and I would have the opportunity to do it again.”

That opportunity came with a chance meeting with former Def Jam employee, Tina Davis. He went up to Def Jam’s offices, not to shop his music, in fact he wasn’t even prepared for it, but as faith would have it, Ne-yo walked out the building with a record deal.. He was simply on a trip with a producer friend who was getting reacquainted with a childhood friend. Tina Davis was the friend and she just so happened to be the A & R at Def Jam at the time.

Ne-yo’s single ‘So Sick’ is an undeniable hit, blazing airways and grabbing the attention of everyone who steps in it’s path. The chorus of Ghostface’s lead single “Back Like That’ was also great look.
By December of ‘05, Ne-yo was already the most anticipated new artist of 2006. At that point I knew I would have to react fast, because it was only a matter of time before he would take over the industry. Sure enough, soon after I saw Ne-yo’s promotional poster hanging up in a record store with a February release date.

Calls to Def Jam resulted in no reply and Parlé was ready to give up much like our pursuit of Chris Brown. That’s when it happened.

It was actually a trip to the bathroom at the Dem Franchize Boyz album listening session when the meeting took place. Washing my hands while he took a minute to adjust his hat, the awkward glances happened. Unlike my usual norm, I was compelled to say something to this stranger.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” I asked wondering if he was a
publicists or a manger I once met.
“Well, they call me Ne-yo.”

It’s something I laugh at now. The chances of Ne-yo ever being asked that question again are incredibly low. He’s currently got the industry in a vice-grip His debut album, In My Own Words sold over 300,000 copies in it’s first week easily making it the number one album of the week and sure enough puts it on the road to platinum status.

Citing Stevie Wonder, Prince and Sammie Davis Jr. as his inspiration, Ne-yo is developing to become the ONE. The songwriter turned singer doesn’t quite feel he is deserving of the name given to him by his peers, but the industry agrees he’s the most deserving in a long time. Still humble, Ne-yo shyly responded, “I’m just taking the whole thing in stride. One day at a time. Hopefully I can take R & B music back to when it was great.”

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