Ne-Yo – One In A Million

Renowned pop-R&B virtuoso Ne-Yo, one of the most celebrated performers of the 2000s, broke through to the public eye as a songwriter for Mario’s top-charting pop single “Let Me Love You” (2004). After accumulating a career’s worth of achievements, Ne-Yo had established himself as a singer, composer, and all-around performer, influenced by Michael Jackson and Babyface, by the time Billboard announced that the love ballad was the eighth most successful single of its decade. His first three albums, In My Own Words (2006), Because of You (2007), and Year of the Gentleman (2008), all received platinum certifications; the latter won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Five of his featured artist singles and seven of his singles each landed in the Top Ten of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Among the many songs he penned for other artists, two huge singles were Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” and Rihanna’s “Take a Bow.” In the midst of several performing roles and televised talent competitions, Ne-Yo worked hard behind the scenes as a Motown executive during the 2010s and 2020s, although her output was not as high. 2015’s Non-Fiction earned his sixth consecutive Top Ten album. He released the candidly honest Self Explanatory (2022) and Good Man (2018) while still affiliated with Motown. Over the next two years, hits including “Link Up” and “2 Million Secrets” were released.

Ne-Yo (Shaffer Chimere Smith), who was reared in Las Vegas and was born in Camden, Arkansas, initially made his name as a songwriter in the music business. However, he had a brief stint as a member of the band Envy. He wrote for Youngstown before he was even out of his teens. Shortly after, he co-wrote “I’m Sorry” for Christina Milian and “That Girl” for Marques Houston; the former was written originally for Smith’s own debut album, which was recorded for Columbia but never released. He rose to prominence in the industry towards the end of 2004 as co-writer of Mario’s “Let Me Love You,” which is one of the most popular songs on American urban radio stations.

Something About Remy Feels Right: Relating to a True Story
After that, Ne-Yo inked a solo contract with Def Jam. Released in February 2006, In My Own Words topped the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop album charts thanks to the number one hit “So Sick,” which was produced by the Norwegian production team Stargate, with whom he had worked on numerous other projects. The same year, he was featured on Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale and Remy Ma’s There’s Something About Remy. He also co-wrote two Top Ten hits, Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” and Rihanna’s “Unfaithful.” His second album, Because of You, was released in May 2007. With its lively title hit peaking at number two on the Hot 100, it topped the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200 charts. Early in the next year, a Grammy in the Best Contemporary R&B Album category was awarded.

Libra Metric
Following yet another string of hit songs, such as “Take a Bow” by Rihanna and “Spotlight” by Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo put out his third album, Year of the Gentleman, in September 2008. Driven by the hits “Closer,” “Mad,” and the Grammy-winning “Miss Independent,” the album eventually achieved platinum status, making Ne-Yo a triple winner in that category. After a brief time of relative quiet, Ne-Yo made a comeback in 2010 with the release of Libra Scale, an album that drew inspiration from science fiction and comic books in addition to the most ambitious records ever made by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. It made its Top Ten debut. Through a few small hits, like Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything,” Young Jeezy’s “Leave You Alone,” and Calvin Harris’ Grammy-nominated “Let’s Go,” he continued to be a public presence.

R.E.D.
Ne-Yo released R.E.D. (“Realizing Every Dream”) in November 2012, following his signing to Motown and appointment as Senior Vice President of A&R for the label. Throughout the album, he remained faithful to R&B while embracing dance-pop. It made its debut on the Billboard 200 at position four. The majority of 2013 saw the vocalist working alongside Akon, David Guetta, Cher Lloyd, and Celine Dion, among other musicians. Ne-Fiction, his sixth studio album, began to take shape in the first half of 2014. It began with the release of “Money Can’t Buy,” a Jeezy single that did not make it into the Top 40 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Soon after, Pitbull (“Time of Our Lives”) and Juicy J (the platinum hit “She Knows”) released more joint songs. The parent album debuted in January 2015 and peaked at number ten on the charts. Later in the year, he expanded his already limited record of small-scale acting credits by making guest roles in Sharknado 3 and on Empire. He also played Tin-Man in a live, broadcast stage version of The Wiz.

An Alternative Christmas
Highlighted partnerships with artists such as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike (“Higher Place”), Yunel and J Alvarez (“Sin Miedo”), and T-Pain (“Marry You”) emerged as Ne-Yo appeared on television almost every week as a judge on shows like World of Dance and America’s Got Talent. He started putting out songs in the middle of 2017 in advance of his seventh album, which included the upbeat track “Push Back.” The following June, parent release Good Man debuted at number 33 on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo released his debut holiday album, Another Kind of Christmas, in 2019 while he was still active in the World of Dance and acting, doing guest appearances on Sherman’s Showcase and Step Up: High Water.

Ne-Yo’s comeback to the Hot 100 came with the 2020 single “U 2 Love,” a joint effort with Jeremih, which peaked at number 66. However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the artist’s progress on his eighth official studio album. He released the hits “What If” and “Stay Down” (with Yung Bleu) in 2021. He also participated in the British edition of The Masked Singer, finishing in second place as Badger. The singles from the preceding two years were included in Ne-Yo’s July release of Self Explanatory, which also included content exploring themes of doubt, regret, conflict, and commitment within the framework of a troubled marriage. It was something of a commercial drop in comparison to his other efforts; it peaked at 183 on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo made a comeback in 2023, first contributing to the song “Mexico” by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and then releasing his own single, “Link Up.” In the same year, he participated in The Masked Singer’s tenth season and won. “2 Million Secrets,” another stand-alone single, was released in 2024.