The charming artist we don’t actually know as Shaffer Chimere Smith has been killing it since his debut album In My Own Words dropped in 2006. In truth, he was notable before then as a songwriter, having co-penned Mario’s 2004 smash hit “Let Me Love You” among others. In short, Ne-Yo has been on his game like crazy for more than a decade, even going on to land acting roles in movies such as Battle: Los Angeles and Red Tails as well as TV shows like The Mindy Project. But there’s still a lot you don’t know about him.
1. He got his stage name from The Matrix.
It may not be that surprising that Ne-Yo came from The Matrix’s Neo, the savior of humans played by Keanu Reeves. But Smith didn’t just give that himself that alias one day. It actually came from rap producer Deon “Big D” Evans (AKA “Big D the Impossible”). Evans said that Ne-Yo saw music the same way Neo beheld the matrix and started up with the nickname accordingly, and it eventually caught on.
2. He was in an R&B group as a teenager.
In the ‘90s, Ne-Yo—he went by GoGo then—and three friends formed a group called Envy. They even went onto play Showtime at the Apollo. However, all of them admit to nerves taking over that night and they were booed throughout and after their performance. Looking back, Ne-Yo sees the humor in such a bad memory, but he agrees that it hurt at the time.
3. He wrote and performed the hit song from Disney’s The Princess and The Frog.
The song “Never Knew I Needed” was the only single from the animated film’s soundtrack and it played during the ending credits. The song was about the love shared between the main characters of Tiana and Naveen.
4. Growing up, his idol was Sammy Davis, Jr
As a teenager, all of Ne-Yo’s friends were trying to nail down the moves of Michael Jackson. Meanwhile, he was studying Sammy and his Rat Pack style, later explaining, ”Something about Sammy’s swagger really did it for me. It’s not that I wanted to sound like him, I just wanted to be what he was on stage and as an artist. He wasn’t the norm.”
5. He’s written a lot of songs for other artists.
Ne-Yo doesn’t pen hits for himself. Nope. In fact, he’s been the creator or co-creator behind jams for Beyoncé (“Irreplaceable”), Jay-Z (“Hollywood”), Jennifer Hudson (“Spotlight”), and Rihanna (“Hate That I Love You,” “Russian Roulette,” Take a Bow,” “Unfaithful”). The man has so much talent and skill that he’s overflowing with singles.
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