Originally from Camden, Arkansas, Ne-Yo grew up in and has worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is said that growing up in Vegas with only his Mother after his parents’ divorce helped him become the songwriter he is today; as she encouraged him to keep a journal to help him work through his emotions and this became the inspiration for his song writing process.
Not only is Ne-Yo known for his smooth R’n’B, soul pop and hip-hop, but he is also an actor, producer and dancer with a wide range of all star collaborations to boast of. Most notably are the likes of hit track “Knock You Down,” with Kanye West and Keri Hilson, “Irreplaceable” with Beyoncé and “Take A Bow” and “Unfaithful” with Rihanna, but the list is extensive.
The first big move to launch his successful song writing career certainly set the tone in terms of genre and chart success, as Ne-Yo co-wrote Mario’s hit single “Let Me Love You” released in late 2004 and named the eighth most successful single of the decade by Billboard.
Ne-Yo’s solo work followed suit from his success on Mario’s single with a record deal from label Def Jam. Within just two years (2006-2008) Ne-Yo released three studio albums, “In My Own Words,” “Because of You,” and “Year of the Gentleman” all of which went platinum in the US and received global chart success. His most popular singles from the albums include “So Sick” (one of many collaborations with Stargate, a Norwegian production duo), “Because of You,” “Miss Independent” and “Closer.”
His later works, “Libra Scale” released in 2010 and “R.E.D” released on label Motown in 2012, did not see Ne-Yo maintain his mainstream success. Instead both albums, which were much more dance-pop inclined, spent a little time in the charts, the latter being his slowest selling album of all.
Ne-Yo continues to write dance-pop tracks much like his collaboration with rapper Pitbull, “Give Me Everything”, whilst maintaining his strong connection to his R’n’B roots.
When you go to a concert there’s nothing worse than the artists only playing songs that people don’t know from their newer albums, but with Ne-Yo he is such a crowd pleaser and does the exact opposite. The amount of hits he played was incredible and had the audience dancing on their feet and singing along for the whole evening.
On top of an incredible vocal performance, the lighting and set were incredible. Bright strobe lights, different levels for him to perform on, and a full band behind which was actually a big surprise for me. It actually made me feel a little wary to begin with as I thought that part of the style would be lost behind the live band, but if anything, it really added to the whole event and lifted the music to a whole new level.
The performance was listed as the headliner (Ne-Yo) lasting for only 90 minutes, but amazingly he was on stage for just over 2 hours. It’s incredible how long he can keep up his energy for whilst performing to such a high standard. It was hands down the favourite gig I’ve been to, fab performance.