2010 was a year of ups and downs for Grammy Award-winning hitmaker Ne-Yo. The singer welcomed a daughter and scored a #1 single in the UK with ‘Beautiful Monster’ but also had to endure lackluster sales with his most recent album, ‘Libra Scale’.
In an exclusive chat with That Grape Juice, Ne-Yo addressed several points including why his album stalled on the charts and the musical direction of his next studio effort. The ever-opinionated artist also openly shared his thoughts on Usher’s upcoming “Revolutionary Pop” album, writing songs for Beyonce’s new project as well as working with Jennifer Hudson.
Additionally, Ne-Yo discussed his distaste for “lazy” singers who overuse auto-tune and his thoughts on Rihanna’s vocal ability in relation to that trend.
Check out the full interview below:
Ne-Yo Shouts Out That Grape Juice
That Grape Juice: Hey Ne-Yo, it’s great to finally speak with you. How are you doing today?
Ne-Yo: I’m doing good! I’m in London right now and it is cold as hell! It’s cold and raining, but that’s how London normally is when I come out here.
That Grape Juice: How are you finding your stay in London generally?
Ne-Yo: Aside from the weather, yes I loving coming out here. It’s always a good time when I come out here. The people are warmer than the weather is so that’s a good thing.
That Grape Juice: That’s great to hear. Well, it has been a busy year for you musically as well as in your private life with the birth of your daughter (congratulations by the way). How has it been adjusting to fatherhood?
Ne-Yo: To be completely honest with you, it’s not that difficult. It’s just a matter of understanding what my priorities are now and she is absolutely a priority. Making sure that she never needs for anything is a priority. So with that it’s important that I get out here and do what I have to do to make sure that she’s okay.
On the other side of that, it makes it more difficult to leave the house because I want to be there for the changes; I want to be there for everything but I can’t be. It’s a labor of love but it’s love.
That Grape Juice: It’s wonderful to hear that you’re so dedicated and involved. Now, on the music front, you mentioned last year that ‘Libra Scale’ wasn’t your best work and that your fans deserved better. Why did think that the album wasn’t your best work?
That Grape Juice: It’s because I was doing things that I’ve never done before and I was learning how to do them in the process of doing them as opposed to really taking the time to master the craft of what I was trying to do.
What I should have done with this album was take the time to learn how to write a script, how to direct a video and how to get the story to come together in the right way as opposed to learning it as I went along and making the mistakes that I was making and just letting it be that. I really feel that had I taken the time to really master these arts before I attempted them then the album would have turned out better; the whole thing would have turned out better.
The people that understood it loved it but for the people that didn’t get it then it wasn’t their fault because I made it little more complicated than it needed to be which is why I’m in the studio as we speak putting together another album that’s back to the basics for me. No complicated story to try to follow; no concepts to confuse you; it’s just about listening to the music and vibing out and determining your own adventure the way you would with a regular Ne-Yo album.
That Grape Juice: Well speaking of that new album, as you just said you’re taking it “back to basics” and so on, does this mean that we’re going to get more of an R&B sound from you or are you going to continue to experiment with House/Dance music like you did with ‘Closer’ and more Pop-oriented songs?
I’m really not sure. I feel like to a certain degree I want to (re-assert) my R&B roots just because I feel like people are taking it too far with the House music now. People are taking it and turning it into this commercial crap. Everybody is trying to do it now and I hate that. I hate when it becomes so popular that everybody thinks that they can do it. You turn on the radio now and everybody has a House or Techno sounding record and it’s getting boring because everybody is doing the same thing.
So this might be the album where I take it back to my traditional R&B roots and allow those records to be good enough for everybody to enjoy.
That Grape Juice: It’s funny that you spoke about everybody having a House or a Pop record because that leads us directly to my next question. You previously stated that Usher’s ‘Confessions’ album was one of the best R&B albums released in the last decade. However, he recently claimed that his next album would be along the lines of something that he calls “Revolutionary Pop”.
What are you thoughts on Usher going into to Pop music now head on?
Ne-Yo: I feel like Usher is such a talented guy. He’s the kind of guy that anything that he tackles and puts his whole heart, soul and mind on is going to be fantastic.
I don’t know what Revolutionary Pop is so I’m anxious to hear what it sounds like but I know that Usher is a perfectionist. I know that he’s the type of guy who is going to stay on it until it’s ready so I’m looking forward to hearing it.
That Grape Juice: On a similar note about Pop music, as you’ve said it’s everywhere and it’s playing on the radio at all times, but core R&B artists like Trey Songz, Monica and even the big sellers like Mariah Carey are now struggling just to get Gold albums.
What do you think that R&B artists have to do to get back to the #1 spot and sell the way that did in the early 2000s?
Ne-Yo: Nothing at all. I just feel like music is in a state of transition right now. In music we follow trends and then we get tired of them and move on to the next thing that we would follow for a while before we get tired of that too and move on to the next thing.
I just feel that R&B needs to be given the opportunity to come back around. I’m not saying that anybody has do anything different; just continue to keep making quality R&B music and people will remember why they love and things will be alright again.
That Grape Juice: We saw you live O2 arena recently and you put on an amazing show. As a performer do you feel you get the props you deserve (when compared to a Chris Brown or an Usher, for example)?
Ne-Yo: To be completely honest with you I don’t feel like I do. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it because when it’s time for people to recognise me for what I am and what I do they will but until it’s time for that to happen then it won’t.
All I can do is make sure that every time I set foot on a stage I give 200% and leave it on the stage and eventually people will understand that. That’s my 2nd home; that’s where I live and that’s what I do. They’ll get it in time. I’m not going to chase the world; I’ll let the world chase me.
That Grape Juice: I like the way you put that one. Now, you released your debut album over 5 years ago yet little is known about you as a person. Is that deliberate on your end to make sure that the focus remains on your music or is that just a coincidence?
Ne-Yo: A little bit of both. I understand that fame and celebrity are very trivial nowadays. You really don’t have to do anything special or spectacular to be famous anymore. Basically, all you have to do is be a train wreck and it’s enough for people to talk about and you’re famous.
I never wanted my fame or my recognition to be that. I wanted people to recognise me for the quality of my music. That’s all I wanted people care about – recognition for the quality of my music, the blood, sweat and tears that I put into my performances – that’s what I wanted people to pay attention to, not Ne-Yo is dating this celebrity girl or Ne-Yo got arrested for this.
I feel that all that controversy and scandal is gimmicky and I didn’t want my fame to be gimmicky. I wanted to be valid, I wanted to be real and I wanted respect as opposed to fame or recognition. I feel like to a degree that’s what I get and if I’m not as popular as the guy who gets arrested 9 times in a year and is on the cover of a magazine for it then so be it. I’m not tripping.
That Grape Juice: You’ve worked with many of the biggest artists in the game including Beyonce, Mariah & Jennifer Hudson. Who has been your favourite artist to work with and why?
Ne-Yo: Wow…well out of everybody you just named it’s difficult to pick favourite. Everybody has their own swag and there are good things about working with each of them.
With Beyonce, for example, I love how hands on she is with everything that she does. Not too long ago I did some sessions with her for her forthcoming album that she’s putting together and she’s the kind of artist that knows exactly what she wants.
She is not a ‘paper doll’ artist and what I mean by that is that a paper doll is inanimate and you dress it up to make it exactly how you want it to look and it’s just there waiting for you to put something on it. That’s not who she is. She is definitely in there like “I don’t think I would say that” or “I want the song to feel like this” or whatever the case might be by leading the pen.
Even if she’s not writing the song herself or at least not all the time, she’s definitely leading the pen to get exactly what she wants so that it has that Beyonce stamp on it and I love that. I feel like if I give you a song and you sing it exactly the way I sang it then you might as well let me keep it. That doesn’t make any sense. I want you to do something to make it yours and I never have that problem with Beyonce.
Mary J. Blige is another one like that. Jennifer Hudson is very hands on as well. She said she wanted this next album to be very personal so just about every song came from a conversation that she had with the writer. She’s talking about things that were going on in her life; things that were important to her and thus the songs were written from those conversations. I like those kinds of artists.
I’ve actually only worked with Mariah once for that remix album that she was putting out on the song we did together called ‘Angels Cry’. It was easy. She was very easy to work with which I can honestly say I did not expect. She is rumoured to be this difficult diva but I didn’t get that. We were in the studio and everything was easygoing; everything was mellow and she introduced me to her dog {laughs}. It was cool. I look forward to working with her again at some point.
That Grape Juice: Which 3 artists are you most eager to work with in the near future?
Ne-Yo: Only 3? Damn! Well, I’m about to go into the studio with Fabolous and we’re about to put together a ‘best of both worlds’ type of situation so I’m really anxious to get into it with that. We’re going to have Ryan Leslie doing a lot of the production. That’s going to be really good.
I have an artist of my own called Loren Allred and I’m in studio with her as we speak. She has one of the most amazing voices that I’ve ever worked with and it’s just exciting that’s she’s my artist and I’m going to be the one to show the world what this girl can do.
As for #3, I’m excited to get back in the studio and give the world another album. I’m excited to remind people of why they love me in the first place and that’s because I write the songs that most can remember. I write the songs that put you back in that good place or take you back to that bad place for a second and make it okay to cry about it or whatever the case may be. That’s who I am and that’s what I’m about to give the world again with this next album.
That Grape Juice: Now the obvious question that I think the fans will strangle me for if I don’t ask it is this: we know you’re currently working on Beyonce’s new album and we know that she has sworn you to secrecy but can you tell us about the album? Is she working on mid-tempos, uptempos, breakup songs, love songs or what?
Ne-Yo: I have been told that Beyonce has ninjas following me. I cannot see them and I cannot hear them but if I say anything about her project they will jump out and slit my throat. In order to maintain my life and my singing ability I’m going to have to say nothing. {laughs}
That Grape Juice: {Laughs} Moving on….You recently commented that singers who use auto-tune need to stop being lazy and take off their training wheels. Were talking about anyone in particular or was it a general statement?
Ne-Yo: I was talking about anybody who says that they are a ‘singer’ and lets auto-tune do the heavy lifting. I feel like if you’re doing this for the purpose of a trend then you’re cheating! It’s cheating! I feel like if you’re a singer then sing.
Take a T-Pain for example. T-Pain is my homeboy and I don’t mind the way he uses auto-tune because it’s a stylised thing. The way Kanye West did it for ‘808s & Heartbreak’ was a stylised thing. The way that [Lil] Wayne used it for ‘The Carter III’ was a stylised thing. However, if you’re a person calling yourself ‘an R&B singer’, singer, then your’re supposed to sing.
Mind you, auto-tune and melodyne these are tools that are supposed to help make your music better. I always use the terminology of it being a safety net. Singing is like walking a tightrope and auto-tune and melodyne are supposed to be used just in case you fall. You’re not supposed to put on your auto-tune wings and jump off the cliff and fly around! That’s not how you’re supposed to do it.
A lot of cats are getting lazy to the point that they’ll sing it just as good as it has to be and let auto-tune do the rest. I feel like if that’s what you’re going to do then you should stop singing and create a robot who will do it for you all the way across the board because it’s not you anymore. Auto-tune takes all the character out of your voice and now you sound like everybody else. Why would you do that to yourself?
That Grape Juice: Now, there is one singer to whom you’re very close who on her last album, and throughout her career, used a lot of studio tricks and she hasn’t ever been able to match those vocals live. Of course, I’m talking about Rihanna.
What are your thoughts regarding her as a vocalist compared to some of her contemporaries such as Beyonce and others?
I feel like Rihanna has definitely come a long way from when I first met her. She has grown as an artist and she has grown into a beautiful young woman. She is a very talented artist. I feel like there is room for improvement in everybody including myself. And Rihanna is no exception.
I feel like every song that she does and every album that she does she’s going to keep getting better and better. She is still very much a student of this art and that’s how I know she’s going to be around for a while. She’s not a person walking around as though she knows it all already. She knows she has room for improvement and that’s what gives you longevity – understanding that even if you’re the best you can always get better; there is always something else to learn. She’s in the process of learning.
That Grape Juice: Thank you very much for your time Ne-Yo. We’ll definitely be looking out for everything you have planned for this year. This was truly an informative interview and we hope to speak to you again soon!
Ne:Yo: Not a problem! Thank you very much!