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Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo on MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand (Photo courtesy of Robin Wong.)
Background information
Birth name	Shaffer Chimere Smith
Born	October 18, 1982 (1982-10-18) (age 25) Camden, Arkansas, United States
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre(s)	R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer, rapper, dancer, actor
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Def Jam
Associated acts	Beyoncé, Fabolous, Jay-Z, Mario, Rihanna, Ciara
Website	Official site

Shaffer Chimere Smith (October 18, 1982),^[1] better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor and occasional rapper.

Music career

Ne-Yo's debut album, In My Own Words, was released in early 2006 through Def Jam Recordings, and debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling over 301,000 copies in the first week and certified platinum, selling nearly 2 million copies in the US and 4 million worldwide.^[2] During the same week, Ne-Yo's Stargate-produced second single "So Sick" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[2][3] Ne-Yo is as famous for his songwriting as for his singing, writing such songs as Rihanna's top ten hit "Unfaithful" and number-one hit Take a Bow, Mario's "Let Me Love You", Mario Vazquez's "Gallery", Paula DeAnda's "Walk Away (Remember Me)", and Beyoncé's Billboard Hot 100 ten-week number-one hit "Irreplaceable".

His second album, Because of You, was released on May 1, 2007. The first single from the platinum-selling album was "Because of You". He has also written songs for Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Corbin Bleu, and Enrique Iglesias for their upcoming albums.^[4] Smith also has stated that he will write songs for Craig David, Usher, Chris Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Leona Lewis, and he recently confirmed that he has been contacted by producer will.i.am to work on Michael Jackson's upcoming album.^[5]

Ne-Yo opened a recording studio called Carrington House and started his own label, Compound Entertainment, in 2007; Paula Campbell, Sixx John, and Shanell are now associated with Compound.^[6]

In December 2007, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a fund raising concert for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. He is also collaborating with Lindsay Lohan on her new material - already finishing Bossy, a pre-single for her new album Spirit in the Dark.^[7].

Ne-Yo has also collaborated with Ciara on new material for her new album "Fantasy Ride", which is due out in early December. The single "Supernatural" was recently produced, and he worked on additional singles as well.

Since his debut, Ne-Yo has amassed 7 top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and two number-one albums on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. Ne-Yo has also amassed a catalogue of chart-topping songs that he has written for other artists. He recently released a song called Miss Independent.

More recently Ne-Yo is known to have collaborated with American singer Anastacia and co-written and produced the single I Can Feel You from her upcoming album Heavy Rotation.

Reckless Driving

He was arrested for reckless driving on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 3:40 AM, while cruising through Cobb County, Georgia. He was doing over 100 mph in his 2006 Range Rover and did not have a valid license. It was stated that he was doing about 105 mph, 50 mph over the speed limit. According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, the Grammy winner and songwriter was sentenced to 24 hours community service by a judge on Monday, June 2, 2008, after he pleaded guilty to driving without a license and pleaded no contest to the reckless driving charge.

Ne-Yo also has to perform for the Boys and Girls Club and attend a defensive driving class. He was fined $1,000.^[8]

Other projects

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Ne-Yo is currently developing an animated series for Cartoon Network, called What The Bear. The series is centered around a rude bear that has been in jail in another dimension. Ne-Yo wrote the story and drew the characters for the series. The series will also feature original music produced by Ne-Yo.

Discography

Main article: Ne-Yo discography

• 2006: In My Own Words
• 2007: Because of You
• 2008: Year of the Gentleman

Awards/nominations

• American Music Awards
  • 2007, Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist [Nominated]
  • 2006, Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist [Nominated]

• BET Awards
  • 2008, Best R&B Male Artist [Nominated]
  • 2007, Best R&B Male Artist [Won]
  • 2007, Viewer's Choice ("Because of You") [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best New Artist [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best R&B Male Artist [Nominated]
  • 2006, Viewer's Choice ("So Sick") [Nominated]

• BET Hip-Hop Awards
  • 2007, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Make Me Better") with Fabolous [Nominated]

• Dirty Awards
  • 2007, I Am Nearly An A-Lister [Won]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2008, Record of the Year ("Irreplaceable") (performed by Beyonce Knowles) [nominated as producer]
  • 2008, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Because of You") [Nominated]
  • 2008, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group ("Hate That I Love You") [Nominated]
  • 2008, Best Contemporary R&B Album ("Because of You") [Won]
  • 2008, Best R&B Song ("Hate That I Love You") with Rihanna [Nominated]
  • 2007, Best Contemporary R&B Album ("In My Own Words") [Nominated]
  • 2007, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("So Sick" [Nominated]

• MTV Video Music Award
  • 2008, Best Dancing In a Video ("Closer") [Nominated]

• MOBO Awards
  • 2007, Best Song ("Because of You") [Won]
  • 2007, Best R&B: [Won]
  • 2006, Best Song: "So Sick" [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best International Male: [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best R&B Act: [Nominated]

• Soul Train Music Awards
  • 2007, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist (Won)
  • 2007, Best R&B/Soul Male Single ("Sexy Love") [Nominated]

Filmography

• 2007: Save the Last Dance 2
• 2007: Stomp The Yard

TV appearances

• 2008: Las Vegas
• 2008: All My Children

Notes

• ^  Montgomery, James (March 2, 2006). "Hawthorne Heights' Anti-Ne-Yo Campaign 'A Joke,' Label Claims ". MTVnews.com
• ^  Source for UK release date of "Stay".

References

External links

• Official Site
• Ne-Yo at MySpace
• Ne-Yo at the Internet Movie Database