Beyonce and Ne-Yo recently performed a tribute to legendary songstress Barbra Streisand at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The show aired last night on CBS. You will start seeing Beyonce at about the 3 minute mark...It's quite an honor for the two of them to be performing at Barbara's tribute and they did a great job, of course....
Wow....album sales seem to keep getting lower and lower for me...Nevertheless, Ne-Yo and Nelly actually had a better week on the charts versus the albums which debuted last week. Ne-Yo clocked in at #2 with his new album Year of the Gentlemen at 250,000 copies so he definitely has something to smile about. Nelly, on the other hand, is putting those gold fronts in jeopardy as Brass Knuckles only sold about 84,000 copies at #3. If you compare that with the success of his last album, which sold in the range of 396,000-342,000 copies, his current sales are not that great. I mean, LL Cool J was all bothered that he sold about 40,000 copies while Jessica Simpson sold more than him. Well, Nelly is not too far off the mark....Haha!! I knew that he wasn't going to do as good as he usually does, but I thought he would at least sell over 100,000 copies in the first week. He did get close, however. Raphael Saadiq sold about 23,000 copies. Anyway, what is up with Nelly's decline? Do you think that the listeners are getting tired of his material? Before I get out of there, lookout for the results next week on Jazmine Sullivan, Joe, and The Pussycat Dolls...
Jermaine Dupri celebrated his 36th birthday with his freakazoid Janet. Janet showed out last week at the Rockwithchu Tour by sexually seducing some of her male fans. I am sure her honey is used to her behavior. Haha!! Anyway, I guess we can also say she is a free agent in the music market since she recently was let go from her contract at Def Jam. For a minute there, I bet you guys thought I meant she was single. Haha!! Sorry about that. Anyway, a few stars came out to celebrate the producer's birthday with him such as, Ne-Yo, Ice-T and his big wad of plastic Coko, Julissa, L.A. Reid, DJ Cassidy, etc.
Here is another song from Ne-Yo's album Year of the Gentlemen. Check out all of the appearances in the video. By the way, the album is really good!
I am sure that many of you know that Ne-Yo started off as a songwriter before making it big as an artist. He has really had a lot of success as an artist and in his songwriting career. Ne-Yo is not the only songwriter that has decided to progress into being an artist. The Dream and Sean Garrett were successful songwriters before they decided that they would take the "artist route". Ne-Yo recently made some comments, which got me thinking about this subject. In this post, I will be addressing two things since he made different points in two different interviews. His statements were: "For one, I think Keri Hilson’s too freakin’ pretty to be in the background. For two, her voice is incredible—on top of the fact that she can write. So I think that she’s definitely one that deserves the spotlight, if anybody. Me being a guy that came from the comfort of the background into what’s a little bit uncomfortable, which is the foreground, it’s really not what you think it is. For any songwriters trying to jump into that foreground, just know what you’re getting yourself into. There’s a lot to be said about the comfort of the background.”
As far as music is concerned, Ne-Yo recently talked about R&B/Hip-Hop:
AP: Did you ever want to do the kind of R&B that 1990s groups like Jodeci, Shai and Silk did?Okay so two questions here...Do you think it is safe for a songwriter to progress into an artist? An individual would actually get more money as a songwriter rather than being an artist. That is just something to think about, but I guess it's just really a risk that the songwriter has to personally evaluate. Artists like Ne-Yo and Keri Hilson are definitely doing their thing!! I also like Ryan Leslie. He is a songwriter, producer, and singer. I hope he gets more recognition with his upcoming album. Also, do you think the music industry in saturated right now? I actually miss a lot of the music from back in the day. R&B and Hip-Hop seemed more real back then. Don't get me wrong. I like some stuff out right now, but man I wish we could go way back to when music was "really" good. Anyway, I just tossed out a few ideas. I would love to hear your comments on both subjects....
Ne-Yo: I definitely had a respect for that kind of R&B. That was an era when I thought R&B was real. 'Cause for a minute R&B was very phony.
AP: What do you mean?
Ne-Yo: I don't wanna name any names right now. You're gonna get me in trouble. But you know what I'm talking about. There was an era when R&B wasn't hot. ... The whole hip-hop/R&B era just kinda threw me for a loop. Around early 2000 when every song kinda sounded like (one note repeated). Like for real, one note the whole song? That never made sense to me. 'Cause like, if you're gonna rap — rap. If you're gonna sing — sing. Don't try to do this combination hybrid of the two of them that sounds like (garbage). I didn't dig it. I just never got into it.
AP: And that made you do what?
Ne-Yo: That made me go back to my roots. That made me go back to the R&B I grew up listening to. The New Editions. The Boyz II Mens. Even farther back. The Temptations. The Billy Oceans and Smokey Robinsons. That type of thing. Where it was more about melodies and lyrics that actually had something to say. So I went back to that. So that's where inspiration for the first record came from. And we was real scared with the first record 'cause it didn't sound like what was going on with the radio at the time. Everybody was very much hip-hop/R&B. Everybody was very much Ciara- and Sean Garretted-out. No disrespect to Sean Garrett (writer of Ciara's debut single "Goodies"), but I think he kind of fathered that era. And it was a cool little era for what it was. But it wasn't necessarily for me.
OMG!!! I love this!! Haha!! I can't front. I have always been a New Kids On The Block fan. Haha! It is good to see these guys back! I like this track with Ne-Yo and the video is fly. I see Jordan Knight is still looking good! I'm gonna have to hit up that New Kids On the Block Tour. OMG! I feel like a school girl with a crush right about now. LOL! I betcha anything Ne-Yo wrote this...The track was produced by Polow Da Don. It's hot to me and catchy. Let me know what you all think.
Ne-Yo is smiling all the way to the bank. Apparently, he just won a lawsuit against the promoter of R. Kelly's "Double Up Tour." Ne-Yo sued the promoter, after he was pulled out of the Double Up Tour." He was supposed to be R. Kelly's supporting act, but was yanked out of the tour because he may have outshined Kellz! Well, Ne-Yo wasn't fooling around when he decided to take the matter to court and came back home with a hefty amount of $700, 320. Ne-Yo claimed damages because he cleared his schedule to make the tour happen, came out of pocket on some things, and passed up some gigs. R. Kelly was not the target of the case, but I bet you anything that he had something to do with Ne-Yo being dropped. I remember hearing about what he did to Joe when he was encouraging his record label not to promote Joe that well. I bet Kellz felt intimidated by Ne-Yo and pulled the plug. Ne-Yo wasn't about to let that happen and walked away from that courtroom smiling! I would have sued to if I lost money..
This video is filled with guests from the likes of Trey Songz, Lauren London, Gabrielle Union, and Keri Hilson. I like the song and I like the choreography in the video. I guess Ne-Yo is going to wear that same gray suit in all of his videos. Haha!! He could've at least wore a different suit for this vid! Haha!
Asia Cruise Ft. Fabolous - Rewind (Nice r&b song)
Ne-Yo - In The Way (Ne-Yo is on his ish!!!)
Ray L Ft. Yung Joc - Shawty Got Me (HOT!!!!)
T.I. - Like I Do
Young Jeezy - Vacation
The Game Ft. Ne-Yo - Gentleman's Affiar
Young Jeezy - Crazy World
The Game - House Of Pain
Chris Brown - Dreamer
Trey Songz - Love Song
Check out Ne-Yo, Lauren London, and Trey Songz at Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" video shoot. I remember hearing that Trey Songz cut his hair and here is futher evidence. How are you guys feeling Trey Songz' new haistyle?
It looks like Nicole Scherzinger is messing around with Ne-Yo again. I am confused. I thought she was dating British race car driver Lewis Hamilton? I guess not by the way that Ne-Yo and Nicole are looking in this photo. I remember seeing pictures of Nicole and Ne-Yo out and about a few months ago. They look rather friendly. I guess she kicked Lewis to the curb already.
Damn! Ne-Yo appeared on Nissan Live Sets at Yahoo! Music and said that Rihanna has a big ole' forehead! A fan asked Ne-Yo who he thought was hotter between Beyonce' or Rihanna. I am sure that Ne-Yo started sweating bullets because we all know that he works closely with the two. He compared Rihanna to his little sister and told everybody, "Now you know she got a big head!" Haha....Seriously though, what is Ne-Yo talking about? He got a big a** forehead too. Why is he frontin'? Haha....Check out the video. Do you think his comments were rude?
Yesterday, Alicia Keys hosted the As I Am Tour Wrap Celebration in New York City. Her mother attended the event. Celebrities in attendance were John Legend, Estelle, Flo Rida, Jazz of Black Buddafly, and Ne-Yo. 
Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo, and Jordin Sparks are pictured performing live at Alicia Keys 'As I Am' tour at the American Airlines Arena on May 25, 2008 in Miami, Florida. Looks like it's a great show!
Ne-Yo and Nicole Scherzinger were spotted leaving West Hollywood restaurant The Ivy on Tuesday, May 6. Could this be a new a couple or do you think they are just friends?
Plies premiered his new video for "Bust It Baby Part 2" featuring Ne-Yo today. Suprisingly, the video was directed by Plies. Also, DJ Khaled and Rick Ross make cameo appearances in the video. Plies is gearing up for the release of his second studio album titled Definition of Real, which will hit stores on on June 10, 2008.
Oh, by the way. No one ever told me if they recognized this sample. *Hint* A famous member of the Jackson crew (winks)!
Ne-Yo has premiered his new video for "Closer." "Closer" will be the lead single from his new album Year of the Gentlemen. He is definitely sporting the look of a "gentlemen" in the video, which shows him dancing around in a suit. The song is a bit different than what you normally would expect from the R&B crooner who is a master at ballads. The beat is a dance-pop record riddled with synthesizers, guitar riffs and a house influence. When you watched the video, did you get that Michael-Jackson vibe? I did. Of course, it was not as good as Michael Jackson, but I think that he had MJ in mind when filming the video. He is working with Michael Jackson on his new album so I am pretty sure that this is where he got this new "Ne-Yo" from.
I really like this track! He was getting down in the video. I love the choreography. Check his footwork! He's even got back-up dancers. This song should do well on the charts. Anyway, check out the video and let us know what you think! I "can't help," but watch it over and over again!
