Neyo

Ne-Yo was born in 1979, on the 18th of October as Shaffer Chimere Smith. Ne-Yo is a singer-songwriter and record producer of R&B and pop music. He also does some occasional rapping and has also done some acting. He first became known as a songwriter when he composed Mario’s successful hit entitled: “Let Me Love You”. This eventually led to a recording contract with the Def Jam label and, in 2006 Ne-yo launched “In My Own Words”, his debut album that contained his US chart-topper track “So Sick”. Ne-yo was born to musician parents in Arkansas and is a mixture of African American and Chinese American. At a young age, Ne-yo experienced the break-up of his parents, so his mother alone raised him. Neyo’s mother eventually decided to transfer to Las Vegas with the desire to give Ne-yo a better future. When Ne-yo wrote “Let Me Love You” for Mario, it became a very successful track, which led to Ne-Yo being adopted into the Def Jam Label. His debut album (In My Own Words) was catapulted to fame by one of its singles entitled "So Sick". “In My Own Words” hit the number 1 spot on the Billboard 200 and sold 301,000 copies within the first seven days of the album’s release. “So Sick” was also first in Billboard’s Hot 100. Ne-Yo’s sophomore album “Because of You” was launched in 2007, and became a chart-topper on the Billboard 200. Its lead single with the same title as the album title “Because of You” reached the 2nd spot on the Billboard chart. Neyo’s next album called “Year of the Gentleman” was released in the 3rd quarter of last year (’08) and placed second on the Billboard 200. It even gave Ne-yo a nomination in the recent 2009 Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album as well as Album of the Year. One of the album’s singles, "Closer" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and another single, "Miss Independent", was included in the list for Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

featuring Brandy :D