Interviews
Neyo
Ne-Yo Talks About Frank Ocean, Trey Songz & The State Of R&B With The Breakfast Club!
August 08, 2012GWL Staff
Ne-Yo stopped by New York City's popular radio station Power 105.1 "The Breakfast Club" yesterday morning, to talk about his his upcoming ‘R.E.D’ album being delayed, while clearing up rumors that he was allegedly suppose to play Martin Luther King Jr in a biopic but turned it down because he didn’t want to gain some extra pounds.
He also shared his thoughts on the State of R&B, what he thinks about Frank Ocean and Trey Songz, and if he has issues with writing for artists who don’t give him writing credit.
On Martin Luther King movie role:
"It wasn’t even so much about the weight gain, it was more about the fact that, that’s a role for an actor actor. Acting is cool but that’s not my main passion. You can’t half ass Martin Luther King. They were trying to shoot at the same time the album was supposed to come out. That’s something that if you gonna do it, then you gotta give your 100 percent attention to that."On whether or not he’s inspired by R&B music that’s out right now:
No. Not at all. I feel like there’s an emotional disconnect in R&B right now.On Frank Ocean:
I dig Frank. I like the album. I feel like on some records, it’s a little too cool for the room, where its like “What the hell are you talking about?” But I dig the fact that when you listen to his records, you can tell that he means what he’s saying, even if you don’t know what the hell he’s saying, its like ‘he meant that. And i feel like that’s the emotional disconnect in R&B right now. It’s like okay you hear dudes singing about love, but you don’t believe them.
Even if you go back to the days of Jodeci. These were the thuggish, ruggish R&B singers period. They were walking around with jeans belted at their thighs with machetes talking about ‘Forever My Lady’ and you believed it. So I think that’s what’s missing in R&B right now. Everyone’s trying to be too cool. It’s too over-sexed right now. That’s why R&B is suffering.On Trey Songz:
I’ve talked to Trey before and Trey is one of them dudes, I feel like could be a serious problem in this R&B world, if he decided to just really put that emotion in there. No disrespect to Trey, love Trey to death. But I feel like, again, the emotional disconnect is there.On abandoning R&B:
No not at all…I can never abandon R&B. It’s where I came from. It’s the reason that I’m here in the first place. If you listen to my pop music versus all the other stuff out there, there’s still some soul in there. My voice is my voice. I can’t escape that. The soul in my voice comes from my R&B background and that’s always gonna be who I am. I’m an R&B artist first. I’m an R&B artist who was given the opportunity to move into a world where I can do pop music too… I feel like I’m in a good place.Watch the full interview below:
Ne-Yo currently has a deal with Malibu Red Rum and he is focused on his role as an A&R executive for Motown.
0 comments