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.
âWe 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,â said Warner Music and Blavatnik Center director Jasmine Young when asked what brought Ne-Yo to Howardâs campus. âThatâs how weâre able to train Howard students and thatâs 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.â
Elise Gentry, a senior in the Centerâs program, put those skills to work, interviewing the âSo Sickâ 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 âstaying ready so you donât need to get ready,â 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 â a friend who happened to be Def Jamâs head of A&R, Tina Davis. The friend mentioned Ne-Yoâs 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.
âWe came to say hi and I left with my record deal,â Ne-Yo said. âIf I hadnât been ready, my opportunity wouldâve passed me by.â
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.
âThe reality is, youâre not going to be everybodyâs favorite,â he said. âEverybody is not going to understand what youâre trying to do right away. Youâre going to hear no. Youâre going to get compared to somebody thatâs perhaps doing what youâre doing or doing something similar â all these things are going to happen; thereâs no way around it. The only thing that you can do is understand that, just because they donât know where youâre going yet, doesnât mean that youâre lost, it just means that they donât know yet.â
Noting the humanity in being inspired by the work of others â as he is inspired by the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., and Marvin Gaye â Ne-Yo warned students against emulating others, urging them not to change to match current trends, but to be authentically themselves.
âItâs not about switching up what you do, itâs about waiting for the world to catch on,â he said. âThat thing that makes you, your superpower, is that thereâs 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.â 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: donât give away your âsauceâ: âAs an artist and a songwriter, you want to be careful about giving away your own sauce,â Ne-Yo said. âIf you have a thing that you do, that makes you, you, donât write that and give that to somebody else, because now thatâs not yours [any]more.â
In response to a student who asked why he felt it was important to be at Howard speaking with them, Ne-Yo jokingly said, âthe children are our future â I didnât write that.â Though he didnât pen those famous words, he genuinely believes in their sentiments and hopes that he is in some way helping them create a better future.
âIn my 45 years, Iâve acquired some knowledge,â he said. âIf I can drop it on yâall and make life better later on, then thatâs exactly why Iâm here. Thatâs what itâs about.â