R&B singer/songwriter/producer NeYo stopped by New York City radio station Power 105's The Breakfast Club to chat with the gang about his album R.E.D. (Which has been pushed back from September to an undetermined date), turning down the role of Martin Luther King because he didn't want to gain weight (spoken like a true butch queen), the shallow state of R&B (which explains why the first single from R.E.D. is a dance pop track) his thoughts on artists such as Frank Ocean and Trey Songz (which he thinks could step it up a little), his new job as an A&R executive at Motown, and his issue with singers who do not give him writing credits on their album (Beyonce anyone?). Check out the highlights and watch the video below...
On rumors that he turned down a Martin Luther King movie role because he had to pack on the pounds:
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 whether or not an artist has tried to not give him his writing credits for a song:
That’s happened before. Here’s my thing, when I write a song for an artist I want that artist to take that song and make it their [own]. If you listen to my version of “Irreplaceable” and listen to Beyonce’s version of “Irreplaceable”, its two damn totally different songs with all the harmonies and extra stuff she put in there. So yea, I gave her her writer’s credit because that counts. That’s writing. That harmony that you put right there. That little background part, I didn’t write that originally. You put that in there, so for her to take the song and make it her’s, I didn’t mind her saying ‘I wrote this song for my girls’ at a concert or whatever the case may be. Because in a way, technically, she did put her spin on it. If you gonna do it the exact same way I did it, you might as well let me keep it.
On whether or not he abandoned his traditional R&B sound for pop:
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.
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