NEYO DO YOU LIVE FULL
NEYO DO YOU LIVE PLUS

Like I said, I`ve dabbled in other genres of music and basically tried to incorporate bits and pieces of those other styles into what it is that I do. So 'Year Of The Gentleman' is basically named in honour of those guys.Гўв‚¬Вќ And for me, the sharpness of Sammy and Sinatra represents the kind of style I strive for TODAY in clothes and music. When, no matter what your status was, you wore a suit so you always looked dapper. You know, my favourite era goes back to the days of The Rat Pack - Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

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. You know, he`s the coolest cat in the room without TRYING to be the coolest cat in the room. And that`s not what it takes to be a GENTLEMAN! A gentleman is calm, courteous, kind, charming.

NEYO DO YOU LIVE FULL

Everybody kinda looks the same everybody`s kinda doing the same thing everybody`s kinda rude and full of themselves. And, in my personal opinion, the essence of the gentleman is absent right now. I made an assessment of the music business. Г‚в‚¬Е“To me 'Year Of The Gentleman' is all about a persona, a swag and a charm. What`s behind the title of your forthcoming, third LP 'Year Of The Gentleman'? And, in doing that, you gotta incorporate other aspects of other genres of music. We`re trying to get rid of those barriers and those categories - you know, rap music, rock music, pop music, R&B music - and just do MUSIC, period. I`d just say we`re trying to blur the lines right now. Г‚в‚¬Е“I wouldn`t necessarily say that it`s the way R&B is going.

NEYO DO YOU LIVE PLUS

Looking at some recent Timabland productions - plus records by the likes of Janet and Taio Cruz - do you feel R&B in general is currently heading in that direction? I basically tried to capture that energy and put the Ne-Yo spin on it. With just that constant, four-on-the floor house beat that just really gets bashed into your skull the whole time you`re there, by the way the music makes you feel. You know, kinda smoky, kinda dark and mysterious. Г‚в‚¬Е“Yeah, it was very much inspired by just the vibe of some of these house and techno clubs we went to while we were in London. Is it true your new single 'Closer' was influenced by European club music?

Nevertheless, it`s a charmingly polite, forthcoming and articulate 25-year-old Ne-Yo who hooks up with 'B&S' from his fast-travelling US tour bus to discuss such far-ranging topics as his forthcoming third LP 'Year Of The Gentleman', his love for The Rat Pack, and writing for Michael Jackson. With innuendos and rumours regarding his sex-life and sexuality running rife alongside stories of highly-publicised alleged legal battles with fellow contemporary urban music icons Beyonce and R. With the multi-million-selling, chart-topping global success he has since consistently attained as both a singer and songwriter having been well-documented, Ne-Yo (who has publicly confessed to having slept with every girl in his High School class!) has also simultaneously generated considerable gossip column-inches. However, with changes in said label`s structure disappointingly leading to the album he recorded for them being shelved, it wasn`t until 2006 - after finding new management - that a new deal with Def Jam would find Ne-Yo teaming up for the first time with Norwegian urban music producers StarGate to deliver a world-conquering debut LP 'In My Own Words'. All of which ultimately led to his first record deal with Columbia Records in 2000. With his initial writing having been limited - during his school years - to private journal entries and poetry, Ne-Yo would nevertheless also soon emerge as a talented upcoming songwriter. Having grown up in a one-parent household after his dad left, a young Shaffer (rechristened `Ne-Yo` by a pal who likened him to the 'Matrix' saviour!) first went public as a singer in the 11th Grade, after joining local Las Vegas group Envy and moving with them to LA. But has also seen him write successfully for artists ranging from global R&B chart-toppers like Rihanna ('Take A Bow'), Beyonce ('Irreplaceable') and Mario ('Let Me Love You') to such latter-day mainstream pop icons as Celine Dion and Britney Spears. Whose own artist career not only already includes two multi-Platinum albums (2006`s 'In My Own Words' 2007`s Grammy-winning 'Because Of You') plus an internationally chart-topping single (his 2006 debut 'So Sick'). Nevertheless, the mid-to-late Noughties will unquestionably go down in the history books for introducing to the world one Arkansas-born, Las Vegas-raised Shaffer Smith, aka Ne-Yo. In R&B music over the decades, the number of chart-topping singers who have separate world-class songwriting careers that genuinely match the success of their own recordings is few and far between.

Neyo do you live