The Least: The Ne-Yo Edition

You know who's doing the very least these days? NE-YO. How do you go from tracks like "Mirror" & "Let Me Get This Right" (for all the real Ne-Yo fans) to a track like "Your Girl is A Hoe?" It's just sad because when In My Own Words dropped in 2006, it was one of those albums that you could listen to from beginning to end...from "Stay" all the way to the "Get Down Like That Remix" with Ghostface.

Then he came out with "Because of You" to kick off his second album (by the same name as this lead single), which to me, was his first slip downwards. I hated that song. It was so unoriginal and a stereotypical track for an R&B artist who was trying to crossover into Pop. It wasn't necessarily a bad song...I just expected more from him. But after I heard "Say It", "Leaving Tonight" with Jennifer Hudson, "Make It Work" and few of the other tracks off the album, I wasn't completely disappointed. Plus, this was around the same time that he was on Fabolous' "Make Me Better"...which also saved him some cool points.

The best thing, in my opinion, about Ne-Yo is his songwriting. The worst thing about Ne-Yo is his inablilty to completely let go of the songs that he writes for other artists that become hits. I don't know if you remember, but at one point, Mario was mad because Ne-Yo was seen on multiple occasions performing "Let Me Love You." Dude, we know you wrote the song...chill. And I remember when I tried to download Rihanna's "Take A Bow," only to hit play and hear that it was a live version of Ne-Yo singing it. Not to mention that after Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" blew up, Ne-Yo snatched his track back, wrote "Go On Girl" and put the song that has the same beat on his album. On top of all that, he co-produced a song called "Single" with Polow Da Don for New Kids on the Block. You can already guess...the song ended up on his third album without the group. (I will admit, though, that Ne-Yo's version was better. That song should have never been a male duet anyway lol)


Speaking of his third album, Year of the Gentleman, ...it was aiight. It wasn't as good as the first two, which is not just my opinion, but a fact, simply because it never hit #1 on the Billboard Charts like the first albums did. I hated the first single "Closer." I thought he was trying to be too much like Michael Jackson and I wasn't a fan of all that... but "Miss Independent" was great. The production was phenomenal, his vocals were hot, and the video was even good. He followed that up with the remix, "She Got Her Own," and I thought I was about the be a real Ne-Yo fan again. But then he came out with mediocrity like "Mad" and "Part of the List" and my excitement for him faded along with the rest of his popularity.

He just comes off so arrogant and annoying now. Sometimes I wish he would just shut up, write songs, and let other artists throw their swag on it. Don't get me wrong, there a few tracks that didn't make his album (like, "Sexy In Here") that should have, and might have been beneficial to his career...but overall, your boy is slippin.

I will say that the 2009 BET Awards was a good look for Ne-Yo. His rendition of Michael Jackson's "Lady In My Life" was outstanding and honestly, I don't think that anyone else could have done it...(except maybe Usher?). It was the first time that I could appreciate his yearning to emulate MJ. His vocal game was definitely on point. (I don't know how I feel about that bald head though...)

Anyway, he's supposed to start working on his 4th album in 2010. Can we please get a new Ne-Yo?...or at least the old one? All I know is...if "Your Girl is a Hoe" is on the album, I refuse to buy it. He's doing the least and Les is more.