"For some guys, it's a sign of weakness," Ne-Yo reflects. The record was a risky move in a climate where most urban artists have a tough time letting their guards down at all, let alone admitting they've had their hearts crushed. I just had so much I wanted to say about that situation that I didn't get a chance to say. "It was just one of those situations where you take a deep breath and you just start. " a song I wrote about my first love," he shares. He signed to Def Jam Records shortly after, launching his own solo career with the hit single "So Sick", a raw, moving track about sleepless nights spent alone, trying–and failing–to get over a breakup. Just to really get a feel about where I think her head is right now, and what she should say." Then I was also looking in the tabloids and seeing what people were saying about her. When I was writing for Britney, I was talking to her people–people that talk to her every day–so I was getting information that way. You have to really look into what this person is about. So sometimes you have to depend on research. But I can't always afford the luxury of sitting down with an artist and speaking to them and trying to get in their head. On how writing songs for the stars is similar to music journalism: "It's exactly like this. The part of the story that they leave out is that she was being chased down the street by 16 guys with cameras”¦ It's like, wow, that's not fair. For example, the whole baby-dropping thing. On sticking up for Britney Spears after her head-shaving meltdown: "I feel that in a lot of instances Britney was being crucified for simple mistakes–mistakes that anybody would have made. I was listening to what he was saying, but the whole time in the back of my mind I'm like, 'Are you aware that you're on the phone with Michael Jackson? Can you even fathom that? You're talking to Michael Jackson right now!' It was crazy." On working on Michael Jackson's new album: "I actually spoke to him on the phone, which was such a surreal situation. Ne-Yo sounds off on the things enquiring minds want to know. I wasn't really happy with the state of radio at the time when that song came out. 1 on the Billboard charts–and held the spot for nine consecutive weeks–he knew his vision was viable. When Ne-Yo penned "Let Me Love You" for Mario in 2004, it was a departure from pop trends. The deal fell through eventually, but by then he had enough industry contacts to launch a songwriting career. In his teens, his buttery voice and natural songwriting talent landed him an artist deal at Columbia Records. I learned to listen not only to what a woman is saying but also to what a woman isn't saying." "It was mainly just me and a bunch of women," he says with a laugh, when he's reached by the Straight on the phone. He grew up the sole male in his household, raised by a single mother, a sister, and numerous female relatives. The Las Vegas native credits his upbringing for this understanding. Give us some smooth, tender vocals that make us feel genuinely appreciated, and we'll buy your album any day of the week. Females get that, and we aren't about to drop our hard-earned cash on some dude-running-bullshit game. Ne-Yo has built his success on a simple principle: most so-called ladies' men don't actually like women very much. As his peers spin tedious tales about drunken one-night stands, the silver-tongued singer isn't afraid to worship the fairer sex, probing the joy and heartache that come with intimacy. Since releasing his 2006 debut, In My Own Words, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter has steered R&B away from thugged-out playboy pillow talk and back to the art of adoring women. Justin Timberlake may have brought sexy back, but Ne-Yo is busy bringing love back–and it's about damn time. R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo isn’t too tough to admit that he’s had his heart crushed.
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