In My Own Words - Ne-Yo

...question remains as to where in the RnB culture does he stand? To be honest with all those reading, I really don’t know. The album contains sources of different aspects of the genre. By this I mean that it contains elements of Pop/RnB, a hint of Blues to strict jumpy rhythm. Therefore I’ve decided to include the track list as well as a little about each song.

TRACKLIST

1) Stay (feat. Peedi Crack) - I didn’t know what ...
...Me Get This Right – In this song Ne-Yo kind of tells a story so to speak. He really wants to get with someone but is explaining in my opinion how he’s become friends with someone, and their feelings have developed into something else – which they both want to be a relationship. Not one of my personal favourites. My Rating 7/10

3) So Sick – It’s apparent that his thoughts are based on a previous relationship which ended due to outside ... more

PRELIMINARY INTRODUCTION
Background
Well where do I start? I’m a fan of pretty much any kind of music which appeals to me. I like everything from RnB to garage, dance, rock/indy and many more. I would like to consider my opinion of music my own and don’t just listen to it because it’s the latest trend or anything like that. So to start the review I thought I’d do a bit of research into the music genre which is RnB. I’ve never really thought about researching into a specific music genre before but thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to educate those who don’t know much about it. Therefore I’ve taken it upon myself to compose a short list of interesting facts about the genre before actually detailing the subject matter, it may take quite a while but I’d appreciate anyone who reads the whole thing. So here goes;

- Well to identify the obvious, RnB or R&B is short for Rhythm and Blues.
- This particular genre was first performed by African American artists who amalgamated several different types of music which included genre influences including; blues, gospel and jazz.
- Before the music was actually defined as RnB, the term given was ‘Race Music’. How shocking is that, I really couldn’t believe it!! I believe the term was changed as it was deemed offensive and me personally certainly think it was! The term was then changed to Blues and Rhythm before actually taking the final step to what we call it now, Rhythm and Blues.

Since the beginning of the new found RnB culture, it has took several different approaches including a Rock and Roll approach (Shake, Rattle an’ Role) and a more Gospel approach which give rise to some of the most well known performers including Aretha Franklin.

I didn’t want to go into too much detail as that would mean me being unoriginal so I just typed what I digested.

INTRODUCTION
Well to start the introduction, I thought it would be a good idea to write a little about the artist, just for you to get a feel of who he actually is, which I’m sure the majority of you do.
Ne-Yo who is currently signed to Def Jam Records released his debut album ‘In My Own Words’ last year and has since been seeping the rewards. At a very young age what more could you want – He’s been nominated for a Grammy and the debut album reached multi-Platinum status. To best describe what Ne-Yo actually does, I’ve decided to use a very recent event, a very funny one. I recently seen his latest album ‘Because of You’ advertised on TV – for those of you who haven’t seen it yet it shows clips of other artists including Beyonce etc which also named him the man behind the music. Well it doesn’t take a genius to work out the different possibilities the phrase could mean but I found it fun to sit there, cruelly watching my girlfriend go through the entire elimination process. Well if you haven’t got it by now he’s a singer/song-writer. I’m not exactly sure how many songs he’s written for others but I do know that ‘Unfaithful (Rhianna)’ and ‘Let Me Love You (Mario)’ were a couple of his pieces. Concluding this point, I think at this stage he’s not scared of a little competition. So now the question remains as to where in the RnB culture does he stand? To be honest with all those reading, I really don’t know. The album contains sources of different aspects of the genre. By this I mean that it contains elements of Pop/RnB, a hint of Blues to strict jumpy rhythm. Therefore I’ve decided to include the track list as well as a little about each song.

TRACKLIST

1) Stay (feat. Peedi Crack) - I didn’t know what to expect after I purchased the album but really wasn’t expecting to be blown away. The songs fast tempo and catchy lyrics got me bouncing away! The song portrays Ne-Yo’s thoughts of his partner leaving him and he expresses the different emotions he’s going through at the thought of breaking up. The song also features a Latino rap element as it includes former Rocafella rapper Peedi Crack. My Rating 8/10

2) Let Me Get This Right – In this song Ne-Yo kind of tells a story so to speak. He really wants to get with someone but is explaining in my opinion how he’s become friends with someone, and their feelings have developed into something else – which they both want to be a relationship. Not one of my personal favourites. My Rating 7/10

3) So Sick – It’s apparent that his thoughts are based on a previous relationship which ended due to outside influences. He’s reminded of his ex every time he hears a song on the radio that his girlfriend used to love. My only problem with the song was the fact that I heard the song way too much for my liking, it was being played everywhere I went, but then I asked myself a question, if he’s so sick of love songs, why is he singing one? Still not been able to figure it out but the song’s really good (after hearing it a few times that is) My Rating 9/10

4) When You’re Mad – This song talks a lot about Ne-Yo’s relationships with other girls i.e. he’s a flirtatious guy etc. He explains how it makes his current girlfriend really angry which he finds sexy. Therefore he purposely does it just to get her mad, then they end up doing….you know what and they forget what they were mad about. In my opinion it’s not one of the best songs on the album but still does no harm to his current status. My Rating 7/10

5) It Jus’ Ain’t Right – This song’s about himself and his partner going separate ways and finding new partners. Only problem is, he keeps calling her name when he’s with his new partner, WHOOPS!! Big trouble if that happened to anyone and I’d imagine if it happened in real life then you could expect to have a couple of missiles let off near the groin area. I found the song had a bit of humor but things like that actually happen in real life – feel sorry for anyone it’s actually happened to! My Rating 9/10

6) Mirror – This song explores a sort of fetish so to speak. I couldn’t really find a listenable comfort zone to it (on my own) as he sings about him loving making love in front of a mirror. It’s the type of song you’d listen to when getting really intimate with your partner and I found it has set the mood on a couple of occasions. My Rating 7/10

7) Sign Me Up - A sort of oooh look at me type, I’m a superstar and I can give you what you want. It’s got catchy lyrics and pretty fast tempo so it’s rather enjoyable. However I wouldn’t recommend singing it out loud on a packed bus going to uni, expect funny looks and the odd Simon Cowell comment, damn it!, that’s my career over before it’s started. My Rating 8/10

8) I Ain’t Gotta Tell You - Well it’s expected on most RnB albums that there’s always a song to make the ladies feel sexy. Here he goes into detail about a girl saying how nice etc she is but he thinks he doesn’t have to tell her. You might get the opinion he’s just looking for a one-night-stand with her by the end of the song. My Rating 8/10

9) Get Down Like That – This has got to be my favourite song on the album. He explains at the start that when he’s single he can have fun and kick back with as many girls as he wants without the strings of being in a relationship. However when he has a girlfriend, he intends to stay loyal to her. Great lyrical content throughout and a nice slow tempo. My Rating 10/10

10) Sexy Love – This song basically describes a man’s feelings towards a woman and in some sense that he’s addicted to her and deeply in love with her. The music video does an excellent job of catching this and shows what he’s like when he’s with her and then when he’s not. I was a little confused and compared it with ‘So Sick’ as they differ in contrast. My Rating 10/10

11) Let Go – In this song he’s basically lost his partner and he understands where he went wrong etc. However he can’t get her back because she’s moved on with someone else. So he explains how he sits up at night hoping she’ll come back. To put you out of your misery, she doesn’t. My Rating 8/10

12) Time – Here he’s trying to give advice through his talent. The basic message is if you don’t treat her right then she’ll be gone, therefore you should take your time and give all you have to offer. Although it’s the slowest track on the album it has to be one of the best! My Rating 9/10

13) Girlfriend – Here’s the classic ‘go away, I’m not interested’ scenario. He sings that he goes over to a beautiful woman in the park eating sun flower seeds, asks her out and then to his surprise he’s blown away at her replies. She reveals that she is in fact homosexual and he just isn’t her type. Very funny! My Rating 8/10

14) Get Down Like That (Remix feat. Ghostface Killah) – The song contains the same Ne-Yo lyrics as track 9 but with a little rap twist as it features former Wu Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. My Rating 10/10

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST??

Well when I first bought the album last year it cost me £16.99 from HMV, however I’ve had a look around for any potential buyers reading this;
- Amazon - £5.97 (free delivery on orders over £15.00)
- ** HMV - £6.99 (free delivery) **
- Virgin Megastores - £8.99

CONCLUSION
Overall the album offers you an insight of what he’s all about, an enthusiastic artist who has the potential to achieve anything he puts his mind to. To write a whole album at his tender age (not sure how old but early 20s) is very impressive. The album offers everything you would expect from a RnB album and so much more. It contains different forms of RnB so it doesn’t all sound the same which I do find irritating. At the price highlighted above you could take away the best RnB album of 2006! (In my opinion that is) Recommend to anyone looking for fast/slow paced music, emotional in some cases, smooth and consistency.
Overall Rating
8/10

*Massive Thank You to everyone who has read - Much Appreciated* 

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