| Ne-Yo | |
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Ne-Yo in recording studio 2011 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Shaffer Chimere Smith |
| Also known as | Ne-Yo |
| Born | 18 October 1979 |
| Origin | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Genres | R&B, pop, dance, soul, hip hop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano, Guitar |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Compound/Def Jam |
| Associated acts | Rihanna, Kanye West, Keri Hilson, 50 Cent, Jamie Foxx, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Pitbull, Afrojack, Trey Songz, T-Pain |
| Website | yearofthegentleman.com |
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. (born October 18, 1979),[1] better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo 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 signing a recording contract.
In 2006, he released his debut album, In My Own Words, which contained the US number one hit "So Sick". Then in 2007, he released his second album, Because of You, which contained the US top 3 hit, "Because of You". In 2008, he released his third album, Year of the Gentleman, which contained the top 10 hits "Closer","Mad" and "Miss Independent". His fourth studio album, Libra Scale, was released on November 22, 2010.
In 2009, Billboard ranked him as the 57th Artist of the 2000s decade.[2] In addition to a successful recording career, Ne-Yo has amassed a catalog of chart-topping songs that he has written for other artists.
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Ne-Yo was born in Camden, Arkansas, and baptized as Shaffer Chimere Smith. "Chimere" is a name originating from the Igbo language in Nigeria meaning "God's Deed".[3] His mother is a mix of African American and Chinese descent, and his father is African American;[4] both were musicians. As a young child, he was raised by his mother alone after she separated from his father.[5] In hopes of better opportunity, his mother relocated the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. While he was in the Las Vegas Academy, Smith adopted the stage name "GoGo" and joined an R&B group called Envy.[6] The group disbanded in 2000, and Smith continued to write songs for other artists before starting his solo career.
Ne-Yo emerged into the recording industry as member of the Romford-based quartet Envy. Neyo was supported by a leading woman (Chimna Orji).[7] After the group disbanded in 2000, Ne-Yo was signed to Columbia Records, but, after recording his first album, was dropped from the label before he could even release it.[8] American singer Marques Houston happened to hear "That Girl", which was supposed to be Ne-Yo's debut single off his then-unreleased album. Houston rerecorded "That Girl" and released it as a single to his 2003 album MH.[7] The release of the song led to Ne-Yo being recognized as a top songwriter.[7]
For the next two years, Ne-Yo continued writing songs, some of which have not been officially released.[7] 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,[9] though all of which failed to give Ne-Yo much attention from the mainstream.[7] Ne-Yo has also contributed songs to USA singers Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans and Musiq, among others.[10]
Ne-Yo broke into the music industry after "Let Me Love You", a song he wrote for American singer Mario, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and later stayed on the top spot for nine weeks.[9][11] After the successful release, Tina Davis, former A&R representative for Def Jam Recordings, arranged an informal meeting with label head L.A. Reid.[7] Ne-Yo was not seeking a new contract, but, after he had performed for them, he was signed by rapper Jay-Z, then-CEO of Def Jam.[8][10]
"Ne-Yo" was coined by a producer, Ne-Yo once worked with, Big D Evans,[12] because Evans claimed that Ne-Yo sees music as Neo sees the matrix.[13] As a joke, Evans started calling him Ne-Yo until everybody was accustomed to it.[5]
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.[14] During the same week, the single had reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[11] Later singles released were "When You're Mad" and "Sexy Love", which peaked at number 15 and number 7, respectively.[15] The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for a shipment of over one million units.[16]
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.[17] The first single from the platinum-selling album was the title track, which peaked at the number-two spot.[15] Despite the success of "Because of You", later singles released charted lower and were unable to reach the Top 20.[15] The album has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of over one million units.[16] In December 2007, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a fund-raising concert for the then presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.[18]
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."[19]
The album sold 250,000 copies in its first week in the United States, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number two.[20] 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".[21]
The first two singles, "Closer" and "Miss Independent", have 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.[22] Year of the Gentleman has been certified platinum by RIAA for a shipment of more than one million copies.[16] The third single, "Mad", peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On September 2, 2009, Ne-Yo released greatest hits album Ne-Yo: The Collection in Japan.[23] The album was also released with a limited edition CD+DVD edition complete with the music videos of singles.[24] It debuted at number four on Japan Oricon weekly albums chart, selling 55,625 copies in the first week.[25]
Ne-Yo released his fourth studio album, Libra Scale, on November 22, 2010.[26] The first single, "Beautiful Monster", premiered on May 25, 2010 and was released as a digital download on June 8, 2010 and reached number one on UK singles chart.[27] 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.[28] Ne-Yo made an appearance at New York Comic Con to announce he was collaborating with Stan Lee for a Libra Scale comic.[29] Ne-Yo also met with fans for pictures and autographs in the Cultyard of the comic con.[30] The second and third singles released off of the album are "Champagne Life" and "One in a Million", respectively. Speaking of Libra Scale, 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 weight it all out on a libra scale, which one of those two options would you choose?"[31]
The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200, selling 112,000 copies in its first week. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart, while debuting at number one on the UK R&B Chart.
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 is currently writing songs for Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé Knowles, Justin Bieber, Monica, Alexandra Burke, Cheryl Cole and Willow Smith's upcoming albums. Ne-Yo starred in two motion pictures, Red Tails, due for a release 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 as Jennifer Hudson for her second studio album, I Remember Me, which had a North American release on March 22, 2011.
Ne-Yo appeared in the childrens 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.[32]
In the spring of 2011, Ne-Yo collaborated with American rapper Pitbull on his single, "Give Me Everything", which has 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.
Ne-Yo is currently making a mixtape to give to fans before his forthcoming album. The Mixtape will be called "1O1" and will be hosted by comedian Kevin Hart. On October 13, 2011, Ne-Yo revealed that his fifth studio album would be titled, The Cracks in Mr. Perfect, which is expected to be released in early 2012. On Oct. 27, 2011, Ne-Yo dropped his first single called "The Way You Move" featuring Trey Songz and T-Pain.[33]
Ne-Yo frequently co-writes with Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen of the Norwegian production team Stargate. 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".[34]
Aside from working on his own album, Ne-Yo also collaborates with several other artists. His works include: Rihanna's top-ten singles "Unfaithful", "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 on the chart for ten consecutive weeks.[3] 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 member Keisha Buchanan confirming that Ne-Yo had written a song called 'No More You' for their album.[35] 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 Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood Anastacia, Ciara, Corbin Bleu, Enrique Iglesias and Dima Bilan.[3][36] 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.[37] 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.[38] However, at the time of Jackson's death, Ne-Yo's collaborations with him had yet to move past the writing stage.[39] 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.[40] In 2009, he wrote "Truth (Saigo no Shinjitsu)" for Japanese pop group w-inds..[41]
Ne-Yo ventured out to open his own recording studio called Carrington House in Atlanta, Georgia.[42] 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 Paula Campbell, Sixx John, and Shanell are now associated with Compound.[8][42]
In 2005, Ne-Yo's girlfriend at the time gave birth to a boy, naming him Chimere after Ne-Yo's middle name.[3] 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.[43][44]
In June 2010, Ne-Yo told Ebony that he and his thought to be girlfriend, Monyetta Shaw, were expecting their first child together, a girl due early in 2011.[45] 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."[46]
In September 2011, Ne-Yo revealed that he is expecting his second child with Monyetta Shaw. Shaw gave birth to a boy, Mason Evan Smith, on October 9, 2011[47]
Ne-Yo was arrested for reckless driving on February 19, 2008, while driving through Cobb County, Georgia. He was driving at over 100 mph in his 2006 Range Rover and did not have a valid license. It was reported that he was doing about 150 mph, 50 mph over the speed limit. According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Ne-Yo was sentenced to 24 hours community service by a judge on June 2, 2008. He pleaded guilty to driving without a license and pleaded "no contest" to the reckless driving charge.[48]
On August 22, 2011, Lindsay Lohan sued Ne-Yo, Pitbull, and Afrojack in response to Give Me Everything's lyrics referencing her name.[49]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Save the Last Dance 2 | Mixx | Direct to video |
| 2007 | Stomp the Yard | Rich Brown | Film[50] |
| 2011 | CSI: NY | The Handsome Man | Episode 7.14 "Smooth Criminal"[51] |
| 2011 | The Fresh Beat Band | Himself | Special episode "Band in a Jam"[52] |
| 2011 | Battle: Los Angeles | Specks | Film[53] |
| 2011 | 4Chosen | Keshon Moore | Film (post-production)[54] |
| 2012 | Red Tails | Andrew 'Smoky' Salem | Film (post-production)[55] |
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