Ne-Yo

American musician Shaffer Chimere Smith performing under the pseudonym Ne-Yo was born in 1982 in Camden, Arkansas. It was not a surprise that Ne-Yo decided to pursue a creative career – both his parents were musicians and probably that was the fact that predetermined young Smith’s career. After his parents’ divorce the future singer stayed with his mother and they moved to Las-Vegas. That was the place where Ne-Yo started the musical career as a member of R&B band called Envy. The group was disbanded in 2000, however Ne-Yo did not even think about giving up. He kept on improving his skills while creating music for various performers, and a bit later he started preparing his own material. The singer signed the contract with Columbia Records, but finally the company refused to release his album, in spite of the fact that all the songs had been already recorded. Nevertheless, Ne-Yo’s bright compositions were noticed: Marques Houston recorded the song That Girl, which he later presented in his album MH (2003), while Ne-Yo gained a reputation of talented composer.

The musician’s debut work In My Own Words saw the light in 2006 and it got favourable reviews from the critics. The debut turned out to be very confident due to the fact that My Own Words peaked at the first places in two charts: Billboard 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It goes without saying that it perfectly proved the highest level of the record. Of course after such a strong long play the listeners were waiting for Ne-Yo’s following album. The singer issued his second studio attempt titled Because Of You in 2007. It is worth mentioning that it proved to be as interesting as its predecessor and managed to repeat the success by peaking at the very top of charts. Moreover, Because Of You brought the Grammy Award for Ne-Yo for winning in the nomination Best Contemporary R&B Album.

Release of the singer’s third studio attempt Year Of The Gentleman took place in 2008. Traditionally strong long play was very well received both by the experts and numerous Ne-Yo’s listeners. The next year the artist pleased his fans by wonderful compilation album The Collection (2009) presenting his best compositions, including Because Of You, Go On Girl, Miss Independent and many others. Ne-Yo’s discography was enlarged in 2010 by the traditionally strong album Libra Scale. Definitely its rich sound and incredible atmosphere will be enjoyed by the artist’s old fans and by all the lovers of high quality music. Libra Scale turned out to be another proof of the fact that the singer found his signature sound, however he continues to improve himself and look for the new and original sound.