Singer and Songwriter Ne-Yo Reminds Howard Students to Be Authentically Themselves

Written By Tiffani R. Alexander

On March 25, singer and songwriter Ne-Yo visited the Warner Music and Blavatnik Center for Music Business Education at Howard University. The event, held at the Blackburn Digital Auditorium, drew a crowd of students and young artists eager to hear from the Grammy winner who has worked with everyone from Beyonce to Mary J. Blige.

“We celebrate artistry and also learning the business of music, and when artists are in town, they stop by to give our students a glimpse of what goes on in the music business,” said Warner Music and Blavatnik Center director Jasmine Young when asked what brought Ne-Yo to Howard’s campus. “That’s how we’re able to train Howard students and that’s why our Howard education is super elite. Our program teaches students how to be social justice warriors in the music business. We train them to be executives.”

Elise Gentry, a senior in the Center’s program, put those skills to work, interviewing the “So Sick” singer about his career journey and advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps. Ne-Yo stressed the importance of preparation, the willingness to take risks, and “staying ready so you don’t need to get ready,” relaying the story of his signing to Def Jam Records.

A producer friend of his wanted to stop in and speak to a friend who worked in the building — a friend who happened to be Def Jam’s head of A&R, Tina Davis. The friend mentioned Ne-Yo’s work, played a sample of his music, and when he confirmed he wrote the and sang the records, Davis asked if he could dance too. When Ne-Yo indicated he could, she asked him to do so on the spot, which led to an impromptu meeting with label head L.A. Reid that changed his life.

“We came to say hi and I left with my record deal,” Ne-Yo said. “If I hadn’t been ready, my opportunity would’ve passed me by.”

He also offered advice on rejection, noting personal examples that included a failed audition for R&B group Boyz II Men, a less-than-stellar performance at Amateur Night at the famed Apollo, and his first contract with Columbia Records that resulted in a shelved album.

“The reality is, you’re not going to be everybody’s favorite,” he said. “Everybody is not going to understand what you’re trying to do right away. You’re going to hear no. You’re going to get compared to somebody that’s perhaps doing what you’re doing or doing something similar — all these things are going to happen; there’s no way around it. The only thing that you can do is understand that, just because they don’t know where you’re going yet, doesn’t mean that you’re lost, it just means that they don’t know yet.”

Noting the humanity in being inspired by the work of others — as he is inspired by the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., and Marvin Gaye — Ne-Yo warned students against emulating others, urging them not to change to match current trends, but to be authentically themselves.

“It’s not about switching up what you do, it’s about waiting for the world to catch on,” he said. “That thing that makes you, your superpower, is that there’s not another you on the face of the planet. And when I say you, I mean the you that you are when nobody is watching.” He would encourage them to nurture the ideas that might get ridicule today, explaining that those concepts often bring the most success tomorrow.

Another piece of advice he offered to aspiring singer/songwriters: don’t give away your “sauce”: “As an artist and a songwriter, you want to be careful about giving away your own sauce,” Ne-Yo said. “If you have a thing that you do, that makes you, you, don’t write that and give that to somebody else, because now that’s not yours [any]more.”

In response to a student who asked why he felt it was important to be at Howard speaking with them, Ne-Yo jokingly said, “the children are our future — I didn’t write that.” Though he didn’t pen those famous words, he genuinely believes in their sentiments and hopes that he is in some way helping them create a better future.

“In my 45 years, I’ve acquired some knowledge,” he said. “If I can drop it on y’all and make life better later on, then that’s exactly why I’m here. That’s what it’s about.”