Angel: Most of us have heard the new single, “Because of You” and wanted to know what we should expect from the new album.
Ne-yo: Expect what people expect from me, you know what I mean? I’m trying to do some quality music; I feel that “Because of You” is a small taste.. If people didn’t notice, I’m thinking everybody did, but it’s very Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is a huge part of why it is I do what I do. So that is kind of my ode to him, this song. I took some chances musically on this record, because I didn’t want to do “In My Own Words” all over again. I hate when people do that, when they put out music that sounds exactly like something they’ve already done. So, when the album comes out, I just want people to listen with open ears, and an open mind. And know that I am still Ne-yo, but I’m a different Ne-yo.
Angel: What do you mean by that?
Ne-yo: With everything that went on with me this year, I went through some changes, like people are supposed to. I evolved a little bit, so prepare to hear the growth.

Angel: So, have you picked a title yet? Because last time I checked I couldn’t find a title.
Ne-yo: Yeah. Imma call it “Know Me.” I’m calling it that because with “In My Own Words,” I feel that people got to know, Ne-yo the song writer; people got to know Ne-yo the artist, a little bit. But nobody really got to know Ne-yo the person, and I think that’s an issue because my music is me and I want people to listen to my music and feel like they know who I am. So with this album, I dove a little deeper into my personal life, my personality. So by the end of it, I want people to know who I am, once the album is finished.

Angel: So, who are you working with, like artists and producers on this new album? Are you switching it up?
Ne-yo: Just a little bit, a little bit. I worked with a lot of the same cats from the first album. Because I’m very much on that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” you know, they all do what they do. So when I told them the direction I was trying to go, they all fell right in line and worked out. A couple of new names in there; my homeboy, Science he is real real new to the game. He did Hollywood on Jay [Z]’s record, me and him worked on that. Big D and Ish. Big D is actually the guy who gave me my name, so I did a joint with him and his partner this time. Eric Hudson, who did Omarion’s “Entourage.” Of course I went back in with Stargate, you know again “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” My man Nephew, the heavyweights - two of my personal producers [from] Compound Entertainment. I really didn’t go with any big names this time, not even for the same reasons as the first album. This time it was really schedule restraints, you know. Their schedules had them going left mine had me going right. I was supposed to do some stuff with Timbaland and Jermaine Dupri, but it just never panned out. Not to say I won’t work with these cats in the future, but this time it just didn’t pan out.

Angel: A lot of people on the site want to know your writing process. Because you write a lot of hot songs, for a lot of people and a lot of people want to know how do you write them..
Ne-yo: Umm, you know what? I don’t really have a writing process. I use to be the cat that used to love to write while in the studio, you know go to the studio and then write the song. But with everything that was going on in 2006, I was moving around so much that I had to kind of develop a portable comfort zone. My comfort zone had to be in my mind, because I didn’t have the luxury of ok, I want to write a song, get me to the studio right now. I didn’t have that luxury, because I’m moving around doing this show, that show, this movie that movie, whatever the case may be. So be it in the restaurant, be it in the bathroom, whatever the case may be, whenever the inspiration hit I had to get it in right there. Actually a lot of this album was written on a bus, in this city – that city, this country – that country. And it actually worked out because it worked for a lot of different vibes on the record.
Angel: So it’s basically natural then.
Ne-yo: Yeah, yeah you know, I do what I do. I always write from stuff that happens to me. Because that’s honestly the best place to pull from, because you’re not gonna write a better song than about something that you’ve experienced. Pain and happiness that you felt, because you can really really write about how it truly felt, as opposed to making it up, you know what I mean?
Angel: Yeah. So what do you think is the greatest song to wrote to date?
Ne-yo: The greatest song to date? Damn. I don’t really think I’ve written my greatest song yet. I still got a whole lot in me, so the day I write my greatest song is the day that I will stop writing. Because if it’s the greatest one, I ain’t gon write a better one, so why keep going?

Angel: That’s true. Ok, a couple of months ago I interviewed John Legend and he was giving you a lot props and I’m going to read you a quote he said.
Ne-yo: Ok.
Angel: He said, “..one of the few people that I actually think is writing good songs on a consistent basis is Ne-yo.” So who do you think is writing great songs on a consistent basis?
Ne-yo: Aww man, well um John, I have a lot of respect for John, because he is one of the few people that is not afraid to take a chance with his music. I mean his second album almost can’t even be called an r&b album because it’s so different. I mean there’s jazz, there’s classical. I mean there are so many different elements to that album and it’s incredible to me. I was like oh man I really hope that this doesn’t go over the world’s head, just the kind of music that he’s doing now. I got a lot of respect for that dude.
As far as songwriters, Diane Warren always does her thing; R. Kelly always does his thing. R. Kelly is one of those cats that can write a joint that is strictly for the hood, and then turn around and write a joint like, “I Believe I can Fly.” Or do a song with Celine Dion or something crazy like that, like he is one of the few writers that can get away with that. My homeboy JQ, he wrote “Icebox” for Omarion and “Free Yourself” for Fantasia. He is real real dope. Makeba, she’s incredible. There are a lot of writers out there that are really doing their thing. And I’m really happy that the songwriter is actually getting some recognition now, because for a long time it wasn’t that. You would hear about the artist of course, then you started to hear about the producers, and now you’re starting to hear about the songwriter, the person behind the actual lyrics and the melody and that’s a real good thing to me.

Angel: Ok, we saw you doing your thing in “Stomp The Yard,” are any new movie plans coming up?
Ne-yo: Nothing set in stone, there have been a lot of scripts thrown my way, I guess “Stomp the Yard” got the attention of some people. Nobody knew that I could do that, hell; I didn’t even know that I could do that. I got one or two scripts thrown at me, but again nothing definite yet.

Angel: Ok let me get to the gossip part, you know I got to ask you some questions.
Ne-yo: Come on wit it, I’m ready..
Angel: Ok, you know we were the first ones to release the infamous sidekick photos..
Ne-yo: Yeah I know.
Angel: Many people wanted to know, why did you take them and how did you feel about them being released to the public.
Ne-yo: I took them because I was having fun. I’m a grown ass man and I took some pictures with a grown ass woman, doing grown ass things. I think the world would be lying if they sat up here and said that I’m the only person who has ever done that. You know, I was just ignorant enough to do it with a damn sidekick. Not knowing how easy it is to break into the mu’fucka.
Angel: [laughs]
Ne-yo: Um, how did I feel when they came out?
Angel: Yeah
Ne-yo: The dude that stole the pictures emailed me, on some “yo, I want x amount of dollars or I’m going public with the flicks.”
Angel: yeah, I heard that.
Ne-yo: So I was like okay, let me find the F on this thing. F-U-C-K Y-O, where is the U, exclamation, exclamation, exclamation. Get the fuck outta here; come on man I’m grown. If the world don’t know I’m having sex, I’m 24 fucking years old. Get outta here with that.
Angel: that’s true
Ne-yo: I made sure the girl in the picture wasn’t tripping off me saying that to dude. She wasn’t trippin either, she was like I’m grown too, hell, it is what it is. So dude sent the pictures to yall, and you know yall put them out, you know yall were doing yall damn job and I ain’t got no beef with yall. I thought dude was a little stupid, but it is what it is.
Angel: And one of the commenters wanted to know if those pictures helped you with the ladies ever since they’ve been released..
Ne-yo: WHAT!! [laughs] I didn’t really need no help, but one or two ran up on me like, “Um hmm, I seen ya pictures, is that what it is?” I was like, yeah mama that’s what it is.
Angel: [laughs] okay.

Angel: Ok, we want you to clear up this whole incident with the “Irreplaceable” song with Beyonce. We hear a lot of rumors, she didn’t give you credit, you talked about it on 106th.
Ne-yo: Yeah.
Angel: So what’s the real story behind that?
Ne-yo: The real story behind that is… it is what it is. I think what happened was she was in Japan or something and right before she sang the song she said, “I wrote this for my ladies.” My whole thing is this, I didn’t write, “let me love you” by myself, I wrote that with this cat by the name of [couldn’t pick up the name]. He is one of Scott Scorch’s writers. So when people ask, “Did you write Let me Love you” I say yeah, because I did write the song, I just didn’t write it by myself, but I did write the song. Same thing with Beyonce, she didn’t write the song by herself. I wrote the lyrics, she put together a lot of the melodies and harmonies and what not, which is what makes it a co-write. Now she’s at a show, the spot light is on her, I’m not expecting her to turn around and put the spotlight on me in her show. There have been incidents with her crediting me with writing the song with her before, but she just didn’t do it that one time and people really blew it all out of proportion. I know that she didn’t mean nothing negative by that. I know that is wasn’t on some “let me just let the world know that I wrote this song and he ain’t had nothing to do with it.” I know it wasn’t nothing like that, because I know Beyonce and she ain’t that type of person. Real Talk. So I just think that the world kind of blew it out of proportion. I want to thank everybody for riding with me on some “yo Ne-yo wrote that song.” But it wasn’t that serious.
Angel: Ok, thanx for clearing that up.
Ne-yo: 4sho

Angel: So, do you read gossip blogs? Do you check out the sites or blogs?
Ne-yo: I do from time to time because, real talk, it’s kind of funny to me, it’s really really funny to me some of the stuff that I read.
Angel: Okay… Recently, we have been seeing you hugged up on Rihanna and a lot of people want to know what’s been going on with that.
Ne-yo: [laughs]
Angel: Yall be looking kind of comfortable, what’s going on with that Ne-yo..
Ne-yo: Naw, there’s nothing going on with that. Real Talk, Rihanna is like a little sister to me, that’s my homegirl that’s all it is.
Angel: Ok, so yall ain’t dating?
Ne-yo: Naw

Angel: I know you’ve been working on Britney Spears’ new album and I know you heard about her shaving her head bald and all this crazy stuff..
Ne-yo: I’ve been trying to work with her, but it has not been an easy thing.
Angel: So have you talked to her recently?
Ne-yo: No I haven’t, as a matter of fact I have never spoken with her. I’ve been working real close with her A&R people. You know I would do a song, and then her A&R would come in, and be like yeah we gon keep that. Actually we had set up a couple of sessions that she was supposed to come to, three of them as a matter of fact and she just never showed. I understand that she is going through her personal dilemmas and what not, but damn, time is money mama. It is what it is though; I mean it aint my place to comment on what’s going on with her. Like I said, she is going through her personal struggles, her personal battles and I heard that she is back in rehab, that’s a good thing. But, these songs aren’t just gonna sit and wait on you, it ain’t gonna happen like that..

Angel: Ok, let me get to the last part of the interview, because I know my time is almost up.
Ne-yo: Ok.
Angel: So what do you bump on your iPod?
Ne-yo: I don’t have an iPod, but when I do listen to music, I’m really really digging John [Legend]’s album, I really like Justin’s album, Robin Thicke’s album is bout damn phenamonal. K.T. Tunstall, she is dope too. Um, Fall Out Boy’s new joint is crazy. There’s this new band called Gym Class Heroes, they’re dope. I’m not really bumping a whole lot of hip-hop lately.
Angel: Ok.
Ne-yo: I mean, not for any personal reasons or anything like that. It just ain’t really been a whole lotta nothing that just really grabs my attention. I like Game’s album, I like that joint he got out with Kanye, that joint is hott..

Angel: So, what’s your favorite movie?
Ne-yo: Of all time?
Angel: Yeah, of all time if you want to say that.
Ne-yo: I don’t really have a favorite movie of all time. I mean I have a few: The Matrix part one is definitely one of my favorites. I loved the first one, dug the second one, and absolutely hated the last one. I loved Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, Usual Suspects, Scarface; of course everybody says those because they’re classics. I’m a big Kung-Fu movie buff, The Last Dragon, anything that Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Bruce [Lee] has ever done. Let me think.. One of my favorite chick flicks is Pretty Woman, and I like Beaches.
Angel: What’s the last one? Did you say Beaches?
Ne-yo: Yeah, Beaches. That movie is bomb. [laughs] I can’t even front, Bette Midler and I can’t even remember that other ladies’ name, but they did their thing in that one. Um, let’s see, the best movie I’ve seen recently.. [sigh] Man I haven’t been to the movies in so damn long. Stomp the Yard was pretty dope, I really liked that one, I think those guys really did good. My folks over here talking about The Pursuit of Happyness, I didn’t get to see that one, but I heard it was real good though.

Angel: Um, Can you cook? A lot of people want to know if you can cook or not.
Ne-yo: Can I cook?
Angel: Yeah..
Ne-yo: I can cook some stuff, you know I don’t think that there’s a person on the planet that can make a bowl of noodles better than me. I Top Ramen it up.
Angel: [laughs]
Ne-yo: As far as actually cooking, no.
Angel: A lot of ladies want to know what do you look for in a woman?
Ne-yo: What do I look for in a woman? Um, we talking physical attributes or just all together?
Angel: I’d say overall, what do you look for in a woman?
Ne-yo: Overall, anything and everything? Honesty. I mean that’s become so important to me now. Like I’m one of the most honest cats that you ever gon run into. I’m painfully, brutally honest. I’m not the dude to ask if the dress makes you look fat, because if it makes you look fat, imam say, yeah that makes you look fat.
Angel: [laughs]
Ne-yo: I mean I’m the dude if you like; you want this to be a one-night thing, say that. You might get what you want dammit. If you trying to make something out of it say that. I mean don’t play me, because you can’t bullshit a bull-shitter. You can’t.
Angel: that’s true.

Angel: A lot of the visitors want to know if you have any Nigerian Ancestry..
Ne-yo:: Nigerian ancestry? Not that I know of.
Angel: yeah a lot of people asked that.
Ne-yo: I’m black and Chinese.
Angel: Oh okay..

Angel: And my last question is, how are you enjoying fatherhood?
Ne-yo: Loving it. I love every minute of it. I wish I could spend more time with my son, because I don’t get to spend as much time as I would like to. But I’m loving it. He’s talking now a little bit. I mean he ain’t holding conversations, but he knows certain words. He’s up running around, breaking stuff. I love him dammit. I love to just watch him. I mean he’ll come to where I’m at and pick up the most expensive thing and throw it across the room. I love it.

Angel: Ok thank you Ne-yo
Ne-yo: Not a problem mama