Welcome to Simple Man Music. Today I want to take a look at a musician in a genre we haven't really delved into yet - R&B. Personally I love R&B music. It's the softer side of Hip Hop and Rap, often called "Hip Hop that tells a story."
One of top current R&B singers out there happens to be Ne-Yo, who was already established as a writer and producer in the genre before. He's collaborated cuts with people like Faith Evans, Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and Mary J. Blige. He's also known for being the co-writer of big hit "Let Me Love You" by Mario. Although he's been known for some time as a writer and producer, recently he's done a lot as a performer and artist, releasing a variety of excellent music within the past few years.
Ne-Yo is not quite 30, and for such a young artist in the R&B field, he's already established himself in a prominent way. Since he first debuted, he's had five different songs hit the top 10 list on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as two albums that have hit number one on the Billboard 200. He was signed back in 2005 by Def Jam, and then released his first album in 2006 - In My Own Words.
All you have to do is listen to various songs by Ne-Yo, such as "Mad," "Sexy Love," or "Make it Work," and you'll quickly become addicted to this guys smooth voice and slow rhythms. His songs have a slow groove that is incredibly sexy.
What I find so incredible about Ne-Yo, is that he not only brings a sexy, young, and new side to R&B, but he has contributed so much to music through all of his writing. He wrote "I'm You" for Leona Lewis, wrote "Take a Bow," a top single for Rihanna, "Irreplaceable," a number one single for Beyonce, and various songs for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Ciara, as well as for Enrique Iglesias. Before the death of Pop-King Michael Jackson, Ne-Yo had even been working on collaborations with Jackson for the upcoming album that Jackson was supposed to release.
Apparently Ne-Yo has talents in other areas, appearing in movies Stomp the Yard and Save the Last Dance 2. He's even opened up a recording studio of his own and has his own production company, known as Compound Entertainment. This guy is definitely an all around artist, writing music, producing music, acting, and performing music.
Ne-Yo has a variety of awards under his belt as well. He's been nominated for a Grammy 11 times, and he's won 3 Grammys. He's won two BET awards, a couple MOBO awards, and has been nominated for more than 36 awards over his short career. It's easy to see that this R&B star is just getting started, and I'm sure we'll continue to see more from him in the future, including writing and singing.
Here are a couple of tunes from Ne-Yo to check out. Enjoy.
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