Ne-Yo- Because of You
In the R&B world, Ne-Yo has all but became a common name. After his debut album, In My Own Words, which was released in February 2006, he made a name for himself in the industry. He's back with his sophomore album, Because of You.
His debut album went Platinum after ten weeks and held the number 1 position on the Billboard Top 200.
In the R&B world, Ne-Yo has all but became a common name. After his debut album, In My Own Words, which was released in February 2006, he made a name for himself in the industry. He's back with his sophomore album Because of You.
His debut album went Platinum after ten weeks and held the number 1 position on the Billboard Top 200. Not only that, but his album sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone. Ne-Yo’s first album included the hit singles, When You’re Mad, So Sick, and Sexy Love, which were all featured in the Billboard Top 100.
Ne-Yo, who wrote all the lyrics himself said that his songs were written about his ex-girlfriend. Although his lyrics are fairly simple, his voice makes everything flow. So Sick is one of the songs where Ne-Yo sounds like he is expressing his pain. However, his other two hit singles are more upbeat and allow a different side of Ne-Yo’s voice to be revealed.
His sophomore album was released on the first of May and has already seen it’s fair share of success. The album was leaked three weeks before the release date in the United States. However, despite that, the album has still sold 251,000 copies and is currently the number one album on the Bilboard Top 200. His album is named after one of his best singles. Because of You is the first track on the album and could be one of the top R&B tracks of the year. Despite the song sounding a bit on the stalker-type side, Ne-Yo vocals bring out the true potential of the lines. The song is all about how he is addicted to sex and can’t stop thinking about it. He says, “I love the way you feel, just kind of stuck between my fantasy and what is real. I need it when I want it, I want it when I don’t, tell myself I’ll stop every day knowing that I won’t.”
Another one of his top singles is Do You, a song which people widely believe is written to his ex. In this song, we hear a softer side of Ne-Yo’s vocals where he tells the girl, “I’ll leave you lone for good, I promise, if you answer this one question for me. I just wonder, do you ever, think of me, anymore, do you?”
Despite having it’s fair share of tracks that you can sing along with, this album fails short compared to his debut album. Unlike So Sick, none of the songs on this album seem like they will become classics. There is no questioning that Ne-Yo has the ability to be one of the best R&B singers of his time. I mean, this is the same guy who wrote Beyonce’s Irreplaceable, Rihanna’s Unfaithful, Mario’s Let Me Love You, and Mario Vazquez’s Gallery.
His talent is limitless but Ne-Yo didn’t seem to show all his potential with this album. However, in what is currently a mediocre R&B era, Ne-Yo has set the bar high for other artists.
- Hirdesh Matta