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Tavis: Ne-Yo is a talented young artist whose debut CD premiered at number one on both the pop and R&B charts. He's also written hit songs for people like Mary J. Blige and Faith Evans. His debut disc is called "In My Own Words.' Later on, a performance from one of the tracks on the CD from Ne-Yo. But first, here's some of the video for the hit single, "So Sick.'

Tavis: They can't turn off the radio, 'cause you keep writing all these hits. (Laugh) Nice to have you on, man.

Ne-Yo: Thanks, man. Thanks for having me.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you. Congratulations.

Ne-Yo: Thank you.

Tavis: And this is a tough, you're in a tough spot. Your first CD that comes out, you premiere at number one, pop and R&B charts. So you retiring now? (Laugh) Where do you go from here?

Ne-Yo: I just keep doing what I love to do, man. Hopefully keep making hits.

Tavis: Yeah. You feel like you put yourself under a lot of pressure?

Ne-Yo: No, no, no, 'cause I set very realistic goals for myself. Like, when we did this album, I was, like, if I can get in the top 20, I'll be good.

Tavis: Right.

Ne-Yo: Top 20, and that's all I need. So it went to number one, and that's definitely in the top 20, so I just...

Tavis: Yeah. (Laugh)

Ne-Yo: I guess if I just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll be all right.

Tavis: So what did you think there when somebody called you or woke you up and said to you, you are premiering at number one on the pop and R&B charts?

Ne-Yo: Oh, man. I say this every time, like, just the whole thing, I'm waiting to wake up, you know what I mean? Like, I'm truly, truly, truly living my dream right now. And that was another thing checked off of my to-do before I die list, so, yeah. I just hope that I can keep it up.

Tavis: For those who have not heard the Ne-Yo story, 'cause ain't the name your mama gave you.

Ne-Yo: No, no, no, no. (Laugh)

Tavis: Mama named him Clay? I'm gonna call him Clay. That's my 'Coming to America' thing. I love that movie. Anyway, enough of 'Coming to America.' Tell me the Ne-Yo story, for those who haven't heard how you got that name.

Ne-Yo: Yes, the name Ne-Yo was given to me by a producer friend of mine, his name is Big D Evans. He was responsible for 'Brenda's Got A Baby' for Tupac. A lot of Digital Underground stuff, back in the day. And he said in his opinion, I see music the way Neo sees the matrix from the movie 'The Matrix.' So, I didn't really like the name when he first gave it to me.

'Cause like, if you remember that movie, Neo was, like, the savior of the human race. And I was, like, that's a little bit too much pressure for me, brother. I'm just trying to do music. (Laugh) So, but, like, any time we was anywhere, he would introduce me as Ne-Yo. Hey, Ne-Yo. So, like, if a person calls you something more than 25 times, it automatically becomes your name, so it just stuck, so I was dubbed Ne-Yo.

Tavis: To that point, do you feel any responsibility, any pressure to use your music to try, in fact, to make a statement to improve the human condition? It may be too soon, because it's your first CD. But since you made that comparison to 'The Matrix,' do you feel any pressure to do that? Use the music to say something like Marvin Gaye? "What's Going On," or something in that vein?

Ne-Yo: I definitely plan to. I think that that's one of the things that music is here for. And given that I have a voice that's being heard by so many different people, it would be selfish of me to not try to use this power that I've been given for good. I'm not trying to sound like a superhero or nothing like that, but I'm saying, like, of course this is my first album; this is my introduction.

So once the world gets to know me a little better, then it's like okay, now that ya'll are all listening, what about this and this and this and this and this? So definitely.

Tavis: Back to the notion of this being your first CD. Since you knew that this is the CD that was going to introduce you to the world, and since you've written for so many other artists, what, specifically, in your mind and your heart did you think you needed to do or wanted to do on this introductory CD? I think of that old adage that you only have once to make a first impression. So what was the plan here? What did you want to say, what did you want to do when you introduced yourself to us?

Ne-Yo: Well, the main, main, main important thing was I needed to let it be known that I'm a songwriter. I'm not one of these add water and stir artists, I like to call them, where it's contrived and ooh, look at my abs. I'm not that dude. I'm a songwriter. I have a voice, and I have something to say. And it comes from here.

This is where the music comes from. This music is not something that I do. This music is who I am. And I needed to let that be known. So had to stress the fact that I was a songwriter. Had to stress the fact that I come from a more traditional school of R&B, where it's not hip-hop R&B.

Not that I have any quarrel with hip hop R&B, but that's not the music that I grew up listening to, that my mom used to listen to when she was cleaning up the house, or whatever. Like what Boyz II Men used to do. To take it further back, what Guy used to do.

To take it even further back than that, what Stevie used to do. What Stevie still does. That's the type of music that I grew up listening to, where it was about melody and harmony and lyrics that was actually talking about something, as opposed to these songs as of late that just ain't talking about nothing.

I hate that. There's nothing that irks me more than a song that ain't talking about nothing. So that's what this album needed to be for me. It needed to be a traditional R&B album written all by me. All by me.

Tavis: Well, if you hate songs that ain't saying nothing, you shouldn't have any trouble turning off the radio. (Laugh)

Ne-Yo: Yeah, that's...

Tavis: Ain't a whole lot on there that (laugh) said a whole lot, to your point.

Ne-Yo: It's very true.

Tavis: Does one become a songwriter? Obviously, it is a gift. Can I, like, practice and become a good songwriter?

Ne-Yo: Absolutely.

Tavis: Because you do this well.

Ne-Yo: Absolutely.

Tavis: But everybody can't write good songs. Where does this inspiration come from, for you?

Ne-Yo: Well, my inspiration for songwriting just comes from life. My life, the lives of friends of mine, the lives of family. Just life in general. I write about stuff that regular people go through. Stuff that I've been through, and etcetera, etcetera. And I feel that as long as there's people walking around on the planet, doing the silly stuff that people do, there's always gonna be a song to write.

Tavis: Right. What, how do I wanna phrase this? What does it feel like to have written hits for so many other people, and then be given the opportunity to showcase your stuff? I'm thinking of Kanye West comes to mind immediately. And Kanye, obviously, has hit it big. But there must be something special there, not to hit on the folk you've written for. But it must be awfully nice to put your own stuff out and say hey, I sing, too.

Ne-Yo: Absolutely, absolutely. Man, this has been my plan from the very beginning. Like, the whole Columbia situation happened, and when that happened like that, it just kind of turned me off to being an artist altogether.

Tavis: You should explain that right quick for those who don't know the Columbia, very quickly. You did an album, but it never came out.

Ne-Yo: Yeah.

Tavis: Okay.

Ne-Yo: With Columbia Records.

Tavis: Right.

Ne-Yo: And when that happened, again, it just made me not wanna be in the business at all. So when I actually did get back in, I said okay, I'm guessing God don't want me to be an artist. He let me get that close to the goal, and then the door got slammed in my face. So I guess I'm just supposed to be a songwriter. Which, it hurt, because singing, again, this is not something that I just do.

This is who I am. I've been doing this since before I could talk. So for me to go ahead and eat that piece of humble pie and go, okay, I guess I'm not supposed to sing, I'm not gonna sing, that hurt a little bit. But then, when this whole Def Jam situation came along the way it did, by a completely accident, by the way, well, not, I say accident, but I kind of lose the term loosely, 'cause I don't really believe in accidents.

But it wasn't a planned situation. So when it came along the way that it did, I looked at that as God saying okay, you know what? It wasn't supposed to happen over there. It wasn't supposed to happen with Columbia. It's supposed to happen over here. I did put you here to sing. Just not that way. You're supposed to be doing it this way, with these people and this day and time. So here you go. Use the gifts I gave you.

Tavis: Speaking of Def Jam, we all know that Def Jam is run by one Jay-Z.

Ne-Yo: Yes.

Tavis: And aside from seeing your handsome face and name on the cover, and the success that comes with the CD, my favorite part of the CD, at least with regard to the cover, is executive producer, the Carter Administration.

Ne-Yo: Yeah.

Tavis: (Laugh) I love that line.

Ne-Yo: Yes, President Carter, yeah.

Tavis: Yeah. Jay-Z, for those who don't know, his real last name is Carter, and as the executive producer of the project, it says EP, the Carter Administration.

Ne-Yo: The Carter Administration.

Tavis: And I love that. Jay-Z, is he a good guy to work with?

Ne-Yo: Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Jay is a real guy, as opposed to...

Tavis: Does he appreciate the kind of stuff that you sing?

Ne-Yo: Oh, absolutely. L.A. Reed (sp?) is the R&B dude, of course. And again, that's another dude that it's just a dream to work with. But Jay-Z, like you would think that he wouldn't have such an ear for R&B, because he's a hip hop dude. But no, he, it's like him and L.A., kind of on the same page with that, yeah.

Tavis: Well, let's get on the same page with Ne-Yo, right about now. Up next, a special performance from Ne-Yo. Nice to have you on the program.

Ne-Yo: Thank you very much, sir.

Tavis: Proud of you, man.

Ne-Yo: Appreciate it.

Tavis: Stay with us. A performance in just a moment.

From his critically acclaimed debut CD, "In My Own Words,' here is Ne-Yo, performing 'So Sick.' Enjoy. Good night from Los Angeles, and keep the faith.