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Singer-songwriter tells Tavis why being a songwriter is so important to the longevity of his musical career. (2:44)
 

Full Interview. (11:23)
 

Ne-Yo: I'm pleased to welcome Ne-Yo back to this program. The Grammy-winning artist just wrapped up a 32-city tour with Alicia Keys, just in time for the release of his third CD, "Year of the Gentleman." Can't you tell by the way he's so nattily attired?

Given the enormous success of his first two efforts, this one should be another bestseller. From the new disc, here's some of the video for the first single, "Closer."

[Clip]

Tavis: So I was cracking up, Ne-Yo, driving to the studio to see you today, because you're, like, the only Negro I know who puts out his third CD while still releasing singles from his second CD, (laughter) while still getting airplay from the first CD.

Ne-Yo: Yeah, man.

Tavis: You are a songwriting fool.

Ne-Yo: Oh yes, oh yes. (Laughter) I've been blessed, man. It's a blessing, it's a blessing.

Tavis: You're writing so fast, though. Why are you in such a hurry?

Ne-Yo: Well, the way that the industry is nowadays, you stay gone for two days and they forget your name, you know what I mean?

Tavis: Yeah. (Laughter)

Ne-Yo: So you got to keep - you got to stay out there so they don't forget about you. It's a fickle business nowadays.

Tavis: We may have covered this before, but how is it in all the writing that comes to you so fast - it keeps coming, it keeps coming - how do you know what's Ne-Yo's stuff and what's for Beyoncé, or what's for Mary J. or what's for whoever it is? Michael Jackson, or whoever?

Ne-Yo: That depends on the way the song comes to be. Like normally an artist will come to me and say, "Yo, I'm putting a project together, I'd love for you to be a part of it. So they'll then, you know, set up studio time whereas they'll go in and pay for the studio time and then whatever songs come out of that session go to that artist.

Now, I have my own studio, and if I go in the studio of my own free will and just make some music and it turns out to be a masterpiece, of course, keep that for myself.

Tavis: For you, yeah, yeah. You ever write something or set out to write something that you think is going to be for you, and you're like you know, this really would be better for -

Ne-Yo: Actually, the song "Irreplaceable" for Beyoncé, when I originally wrote it, I wrote it with the intention of singing it. But then those lyrics on a man come across a little mean and misogynistic, whereas those lyrics on a woman come across empowering and uplifting, you know what I mean? So I flipped a word around here or there and shipped it off to her.

Tavis: So how is this third CD different from the first two?

Ne-Yo: Well, I'm growing up, you know what I mean? I'm not lying about my age no more - thank you, Def Jam, appreciate you not making me do that no more. (Laughter) I am 28 years old, I'll be 29 this year, and I'm moving around more, you know what I'm saying? I've circled the globe twice, you know what I mean? So just experimenting with different genres in music, so anybody looking at this album as just a straight urban album is either going to be one, disappointed, or pleasantly surprised.

Because there's definitely some urban stuff on there, but there's also some pop stuff on there, there's also some stuff leaning towards, like, alternative rock. Like, there's, like, it's just - it's more of a buffet. It's a little something for everybody on this one as opposed to just solid, straight R&B.

Tavis: And what gives you reason to believe that your audience is going to accept it, going to come with you?

Ne-Yo: Well, I give my fans a lot of credit. I think I have intelligent fans, the kind of fans that understand that I am an artist at the end of the day, and the whole essence of being an artist is to grow and evolve and do different things. So hopefully - (unintelligible) do this - hopefully my fans will want to grow and evolve with me, and understand what it is I'm doing.

Tavis: And the album title comes from?

Ne-Yo: That comes from just viewing the industry right now, viewing just us as a people - I'm talking men - and just realizing that the essence of what it is to be a gentlemen is a little lacking nowadays, you know what I mean? Just from the way we treat our women to our appearance, just period, you know what I mean? It's like back in the days - I always go back to the days of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin - the Rat Pack.

Tavis: The Rat Pack, yeah.

Ne-Yo: Even a little closer - the Temptations. You could not call yourself an entertainer unless your tie was straight and your suit was pressed and your shoes were shiny. Like, you had to be that. Nowadays it's like, you look at the R&B cats and you look at the rap cats and you can't tell them apart. Everybody got their pants hanging this far off their butt, and it's, like, there's not a classy look anymore.

So in that essence, I'm trying to bring it back. Not even to say that the clothes make the man, because we definitely know that that's not true, but a gentleman knows the importance of looking the part, of dressing for the occasion.

Tavis: How much of this notion of being a gentleman, how does that, if at all, play into your lyrical content?

Ne-Yo: Well, I think to be - I think the thing about being a gentleman is that everybody loves him even if you don't necessarily like him, because he has a little something for everybody. He's going to be honest with you, because a gentleman doesn't have to lie because he's that charming, and the (unintelligible) is that intense to where he's - he can tell you the truth, and even if you're upset in that instance you're going to respect him for telling you the truth because you're going to do it with so much charm that it's going to just go right over your head.

So I think with that notion in mind, you can't - all of my lyrics have always been true to me. I always write about stuff that happens to me from a personal standpoint, and also just as far as the content of my lyrics, like, it's for everybody. I don't necessarily do music for older audience, younger audience - I do music for people that appreciate music, be you four, 14, 40, 400, whatever.

Tavis: I'm cracking up, and I probably shouldn't say this on national television, but what the heck, I just - nobody's watching, this is between the two of us. (Laughter) The last time you were on the show you performed for us the song I love, and I just wondered, do you -

Ne-Yo: "Do You."

Tavis: "Do You," exactly. I had somebody call me and play that song on my voicemail. (Laughter) Tavis, I just wondered, do you ever think of me anymore. I ain't heard from this sister in about 12 years.

Ne-Yo: Oh, man. (Laughter) Wait, should I be apologizing, or should you be thanking me right now? Which one is it?

Tavis: I don't know, I'm just saying, your stuff - people connect with your stuff, though.

Ne-Yo: Oh, okay.

Tavis: When they hear these lyrics, it really - now I'm in all kind of trouble. (Unintelligible) told that story. But when they hear it, they actually connect with it. Talking about "did you still think of me."

Ne-Yo: Hey, man -

Tavis: That's Ne-Yo's song, what's that got to do with us?

Ne-Yo: I'm a real person and I write from a real person's standpoint, and it appeals to real people. I'm pretty sure that everybody has felt that at some point in life. You'll be with somebody, y'all break up, and that just goes through your mind - I wonder if she ever thinks about me?

Tavis: Ever thinks about me, yeah.

Ne-Yo: I wonder if he ever thinks about - (unintelligible) old girl, whatever.

Tavis: Yeah, well, it worked.

Ne-Yo: Oh, yeah.

Tavis: It impacted somebody, at least one person I know.

Ne-Yo: Absolutely.

Tavis: You said a few moments ago, and you're the first person I've ever - I was just thinking when you said it, and I could have come back to it three minutes ago when you said it, but I wanted to think about it to make sure I was right about my assessment, and I think I am.

All the years I've been doing radio and television, you're the first artist I recall saying honestly that they are now free of the guilt of having to lie, to fudge their age.

Ne-Yo: Yeah.

Tavis: Why is that such a big deal in this industry, that people in record companies want you to lie about your - if your music is good and it's tight, then it's all that. But what's the age thing all abou9t?

Ne-Yo: Well, see, when you first get signed to a label and they don't know how well you're going to do, they always want to make you as young as possible because in theory, the younger you are, the longer your life in the business. So if you start when you're 15 and your first album sucks, you've got 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 to make up for it.

So when they signed me I was 25, and they told me to tell everybody I was 22, because again, they didn't know what - but I was telling them the same thing you were. I was, like, "I don't think the music that I'm doing is going to merit that, I don't think I'm going to have to do that." Nobody cares how old John Legend is. Nobody cares how old Robin Thicke is. Good music is good music.

But they - this was me playing the game, you know what I mean? Like, when I went in there, I was, like, "Okay, I understand that y'all are not going to let me do everything I want to do, but I ain't going to do everything y'all want me to do, either. So we going to find a comfortable medium or this ain't going to work.

So that was one of the comfortable mediums. It was, like, we're going to need you to be a little younger. I was, like, all right.

Tavis: I'm just laughing - I'm laughing now because I'm like, what did that three years get you?

Ne-Yo: Nothing. (Laughter) Nothing at all.

Tavis: Twenty-two to 25 - three years. What does that get a brother, three years?

Ne-Yo: Nothing at all. I don't know, I don't know. It didn't make no sense to me either, but I was playing the game, I was playing the game. But now I am happy to let the world know I am 28 years young, (laughter) okay? I'll be 29 years young this year, October 18th, just in case you want to give me a gift (unintelligible).

Tavis: (Laughs) It raises a fascinating question for me, though, about how long you think your shelf life is. And I'm asking that against the backdrop of your point earlier, that you wrote so much - you write everything you do, basically. How long can that last? Does that give you a longer life in the business because you're writing and not just performing?

Ne-Yo: I definitely think so. I am aware - see, I'm a realist in that I understand that at some point in this game, you're not going to want to hear Ne-Yo sing a song. You're not going to want to go and see Ne-Yo perform - you're not going to want to do that. One day you're hot, the next day you're not. It happens.

But you could be 90 years old and write a song for somebody, and nobody ever has to see your face, nobody ever has to look at you or hear you. I can write for the hottest cat out right now and I'm sitting at home, 85, and happy, you know what I mean?

Tavis: You're getting paid, because you wrote the song.

Ne-Yo: That, too. (Laughter) You know what I mean? That, too. So I think it definitely - yeah, it makes you immortal, so to speak. Like your music - I'm trying to do the kind of music that's going to outlive me, my kids, my kids' kids, and so on and so forth. There's no age range on that.

Tavis: Did you enjoy the Alicia Keys tour?

Ne-Yo: Oh, yeah, yeah. I got to spend three months of my life with two beautiful women. Yeah, man.

Tavis: Yeah, can't complain about that, huh?

Ne-Yo: Oh, no, not at all, not at all. We started off a little rocky in the beginning. (Unintelligible) had some vocal issues, so she missed, like, the first few shows. Then Alicia got sick so we had to cancel a few shows, but, like, once we got rolling, everything was good.

Tavis: It was cool, yeah. Finally, I keep hearing - matter of fact, actually, you told me this first, that you were writing some stuff that Michael Jackson might do, and we keep hearing that he's working on this project. Any word yet on whether he's picked - what he's picked for the record yet?

Ne-Yo: No, no.

Tavis: Nothing yet? Okay.

Ne-Yo: Still don't know yet. He's being picky, you know what I'm saying? As he should be, because this is going to be real important. When this album - when, if - this album comes out, it's going to be a very, very important album for him, so he's being selected. I ain't mad at that. I'm going to just keep submitting, he'll call me and tell me which ones he liked, which ones he don't, and it'll be that until he decides okay, these are the ones that's going on the album.

Tavis: How cool would that be, how big would that be for you? Obviously, you're - a lot of folk want you to write for them, but to have him -

Ne-Yo: Man.

Tavis: A guy you grew up listening to, how big would that be for you, to have him do some of your stuff?

Ne-Yo: Man, beyond - beyond huge, just the - just even getting the opportunity to maybe write a song that Michael Jackson might sing, that's - man, I'm floating already, you know what I mean? So if - if, by the grace of God, one or two get on the album, yeah, that's going to be huge for me. That's one of those things where if I had to retire tomorrow, I wrote a song for Michael Jackson. I'm all right.

Tavis: Well, I want to announce tonight that I'm retiring tomorrow from television. I got a new record coming out.

Ne-Yo: Oh, goodness gracious.

Tavis: In October, and I am 24. (Laughter) Twenty-four. Just want y'all to know that right now, for my -

Ne-Yo: Young Tavis.

Tavis: For my record - young Tavis, before my record drops.

Ne-Yo: Young Tavis.

Tavis: The album is called "Year of the Gentleman," from Ne-Yo. And like I said at the top of the show, still getting the airplay from the first album on the radio, still dropping singles from the second, and out with a third. This boy can write some songs.

Ne-Yo: Yeah, man.

Tavis: I'm always honored to have you here.

Ne-Yo: Thank you, sir, appreciate it.

Tavis: Good to see you, man.