In My Own Words: Ne-Yo Speaks for Himself

It’s a sad truth that R&B is becoming more disposable by the second. With record contracts being handed out like toilet paper at a Charmin convention, new artists and groups are entering the arena by the droves with nothing more than good looks and a paper-thin voice on their side. 

These label-professed “next big things” have no clue what genuine artistry is and instead of taking the time to study and learn the art form of music and cultivating their knowledge into musicianship with integrity and durability, new artists/groups are pitted against each other in a battle of Pro-Tools and 1,2 steps to see who can shoot the gaudiest video and rocket to the top of TRL and 106&Park the quickest. 

Occasionally, a glimmer of hope and beauty might be found in the wreckage but usually, that glimmer is overall ignored by the general public, they rescind back into anonymity, and you, the frustrated music consumer, are left wearing yet another groove into your Miseducation and Voodoo LPs.

But in 2006, it seems like that glimmer might get brighter and spread farther than before. And that’s because this time, the glimmer has a name; Ne-Yo. His backstory is a classic; he worked for several years behind the scenes as a songwriter, penned a few smash hits for a few high-profile artists (most notably, the #1 single of 2004 - Mario, “Let Me Love You”), and finally got a chance to make his pencil and wordplay work for him. 

Aligning himself with the Carter Administration over at Def Jam, he holed himself up in a studio with a handful of relative unknowns and emerged with the 12 (13) songs that comprise his debut album, the aptly titled In My Own Words.