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After penning hit songs for other up and coming artists, R&B superstar Ne-Yo, a.k.a Shaffer Smith dominated the charts of Summer 2006 with his breakout hit “So Sick.” A couple more singles off his album “In My Own Words” and fans are anything but sick of this multi-talented young artist. Recently he worked on the Save The Last Dance 2 album, and even appeared as himself in the movie. With no signs of slowing down, Ne-Yo is working on another album. His lyrics come straight from the heart, and it seems Ne-Yo is “stay”ing around, for good!

Check out Ne-Yo’s blog at www.YearOfTheGentleman.com.

THE STAR SCOOP:
You’ve done songwriting, singing, executive producing. Is it [hard] to change hats and go from one role to the next?

NE-YO:
Not really, because honestly, everything I’m doing right now is in the entertainment realm, and you know, I think in order to be a quality entertainer, you gotta be able to embody, you know, a bunch of different things. Pretty much everything that entertainment is, be it singing, acting, from the executive side, and so on and so forth. I think that that’s what it takes to be a quality entertainer, especially today.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How did you get involved with the “Save The Last Dance 2″ Soundtrack?

NE-YO:
Just having a cool relationship with MTV. They put the first one out, so they went ahead and put this one out as well. They recognized me as an up and coming song writer with a little bit of talent, so they asked me to submit some songs to the soundtrack. I submitted some joints, they was impressed, asked me if I wanted to help executive produce. I was a little concerned, because I didn’t know what executive produce meant at the very beginning, and them explaining what it was, basically overseeing what music will go on the project, making sure that the music made perfect sense with the movie, [I was] like okay, that sounds easy enough, and the rest is history.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How did executive producing compare to singing and writing? Is it something you want to do again?

NE-YO:
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Executive producing, especially doing stuff for a movie, is almost like playing a video game with the cheat cards right in front of you. You don’t really gotta work at figuring anything out. Like for example, they would send me scenes from the movie, and tell me what they wanted the song to be, what the song needs to be in order to make sense with the scene. So, instead of having to come up with a concept for a song and all of that, the concept is pretty much done for you. You just write a song. It was actually really, really easy.

THE STAR SCOOP:
When you write a song, what’s the process? Are you drawing from your own experiences or trying to put yourself in someone else’s shoes? Where do you get the ideas for the songs you’ve written?

NE-YO:
I make it my business to not really write songs about stuff that I don’t know anything about. So, pretty much every song I’ve ever written has come from either personal experience or experience from someone close to me, you know, so on and so forth. I just think the song comes out better when you know a little bit about what you’re writing about. That’s where my inspiration comes from.

THE STAR SCOOP:
You’ve written a lot of songs for other artists to sing. How does it feel for you to have them singing your words and some of your experiences?

NE-YO:
It feels good. I think, at the end of the day, be it me singing the song or be it someone else singing the song, it’s still me, it’s still my music, my vision, my experience, or whatever the case may be. So, it’s an honor. It’s an honor to me to have somebody that doesn’t know me personally feel comfortable enough to sing about something that just might be personal to me.

THE STAR SCOOP:
You started out, you wrote a hit song, and you’ve written a lot of other songs. Then you released your own album. How has your success and your recognition changed since then?

NE-YO:
In the beginning, with just the one song written, it could have easily been written off as a fluke, you know what I’m saying? The whole one hit wonder situation, that’s a very real thing. But after I did that song, then came out with a couple hits of my own, and a couple more hits for a couple other people, I think that now I’ve pretty much proven that I know what I’m doing at least a little bit in this writing game, the artist game. Whereas, I used to have to ask people if I could write, submit songs for their records or whatever. Now people actually come to me requesting songs. So, it’s a cool thing. It’s a cool thing.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Have you always been a writer? Is that something that you were drawn to growing up, music and writing?

NE-YO:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I used walk around with a journal when I was young, writing down just pretty much everything that happened to me throughout the day. Just the whole art of writing, it wasn’t even songs in the beginning, it was journal entries, poems, short stories, and then eventually it became songs. So, yeah, I’ve always, always been a writer.

THE STAR SCOOP:
So you’ve written these songs, you’re going to put out your album. Where did you come up with “Ne-Yo” from?

NE-YO:
That is a moniker that was given to me by a producer friend of mine. It’s a reference from the movie The Matrix. He said I see music the way Neo sees the Matrix. So, out of the blue he just started calling me Ne-Yo, and the name stuck.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Is it hard for you, in some ways, to not get recognized by your real name? Or is it something that just kind of goes along with the business?

NE-YO:
The whole stage name thing, my whole thing is that Ne-Yo is a character that I created as an instrument to get my music out there. Be it, Shaffer Smith or be it Ne-Yo, at the end it’s all me. So I’m just thankful and appreciative that everybody is appreciating me for what it is I am, and that is, my music.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How big of an importance do your fans play in your career?

NE-YO:
The fans? They’re the most important thing. Without the fans, there is no music business, you know what I’m saying? The music business is people making music and trying to sell it, and if there’s nobody to buy it, then there is no music business. So the fans are the most important thing, period. That’s why I’ve never really capped in to turn down an autograph, or not take a picture with somebody, because these are the people that make me who I am. If not for them, I would be making music in my basement for nobody to listen to buy myself.>

THE STAR SCOOP:
You’ve been kind of an inspiration for a lot of these fans, you’re relatively young, you’ve been successful in multiple fields – you’re a respected songwriter, you’ve got your own album out there. What advice can you give to kids? What can they do to fulfill their dream, too?

NE-YO:
As far as music is concerned? The thing that really got me in the door is just always, always, always doing it. I always wrote. The opportunity is going to present itself, in some way, shape, form, or fashion. You just have to be absolutely ready when it does. You gotta be walking around at a restaurant, as you see somebody is walking in, you gonna bump into him and knock his phone out of his hand, and that’s your moment, right then. If you’re a producer, you need to have your CD right there, if you’re a singer, you need to be ready to sing at the drop of a hat, if you rhyme, same situation. So, I just think that the best way to get into the business is to for one, hone your skills, so that there is no question when the opportunity does approach, that, you know, you’re ready to go.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How does performing live versus being in the studio compare for you?

NE-YO:
I think in that instance, I’m definitely two people. There’s Shaffer Smith, who is definitely the writer, who prefers, the privacy of the studio, who prefers the creative process, and then there’s Ne-Yo, who lives for the stage. My current constant battle is trying to find a comfortable medium between the two, learning how to turn it on and off. And I think I’m getting pretty good at it, to tell you the truth.

THE STAR SCOOP:
So when you have a song like “So Sick” that got an immense amount of airplay, do you ever get sick of hearing your own music?

NE-YO:
To be completely honest with you, I’ve gotten to the point now where it’s like, ahhh. Like if I hear it, I’ll turn it to another station, or whatever. But in the very beginning, like, no, not at all. Every time I heard it, it was like the first time. It was just because I was so happy, and excited you know, to finally, finally, after so long trying to get here, getting my music out there as my self, as opposed to somebody else singing my words. It was me, you know what I’m saying? And it was exciting. It’s still exciting, but I’ve gotten used it a little bit now.

THE STAR SCOOP:
And so for someone who hasn’t heard your music, how would you describe your style?

NE-YO:
Damn, that’s always an interesting question because I never really know exactly how to answer it. Um, my style…I guess I pull from a more traditional side of what R&B is, as opposed to the more hip hop stuff that’s going on right now. Not that I have anything against hip hop R&B or whatever it is you want to call it, but [I'm] more along the lines of you know, say Boys II Men, Michael Jackson, Prince, that type of stuff. That’s more my speed.

THE STAR SCOOP:
A fan today might say, you know, “One day I want to be like Ne-Yo.” Who was that person for you?

NE-YO:
Definitely Michael Jackson, definitely Prince. Stevie Wonder was another one. Sammy Davis Jr. was a huge one. Those were the main four. I used to say, if I could take these four people and mold them into one person, that’s the artist that I aspire to be.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you feel like you’ve fulfilled that goal? Are you the artist that you want to be?

NE-YO:
Not yet, not yet, no. One thing that I didn’t know about this business is that there’s a process to it. You can’t get your full personality out in the very beginning, because some people have personalities that can be very overwhelming. I have a very multi-faceted personality, so there’s certain things that I want to do, and that I’m capable of, but the world just ain’t ready for yet, the world is not ready to receive from me yet. It’s that whole Andre 3000 theory. When he first came out, he was not the guy that he is now. But in all actuality, he may very well have been that guy the whole time. He was just smart enough to not bring his full self out in the beginning, you know, giving himself room to grow, and that’s basically what I’m doing.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have anything going on, any new projects? Are you writing any new songs? Are you going to release another album? What’s in your future?

NE-YO:
I’ve definitely got another album coming real soon. I’m in the process of recording that. Be looking for a single sometime around February, and the album sometime around March or April. Still gotta a bunch of projects coming out…Paula DeAnda, Mario Vasquez, all newcomers. Beyonce’s, “Irreplaceable” is doing really well. That’s pretty much it. Enrique Iglesias and Britney Spears coming real soon. Other than that, my main focus has been just trying to find time to get this new album right in between the touring and the movie stuff and all of that.

THE STAR SCOOP:
You’ve had a song that charted crazy well, you’ve written hits for other people, kind of helping them get their career started, you’ve had a chance to executive produce, you’ve got your name out there. What can you possibly do next to keep pushing yourself to the next level?

NE-YO:
You know what, I really don’t know yet. I really don’t know yet. But I guarantee that I’m gonna have a ball trying to figure it out.