Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo (born Shaffer Chimere Smith on October 18, 1982) is a Grammy Award winning American R&B singer-songwriter currently signed to Def Jam Records. He is also known for co-writing Mario's 2004 #1 hit, "Let Me Love You". Def Jam Records released, "Stay" (featuring Peedi Crakk) as the debut single in 2005. It was well-received by the urban community but didn't reach too far on Billboard charts. "So Sick" has been his most responsive hit yet in his career.

Ne-Yo was a song writer before he became a recording artist. He has written songs for a number of artists, including Mary J. Blige, Ruben Studdard, Marques Houston, Faith Evans, Christina Milian, B2K, Nivea, Tyrese, Jamie Foxx and Heather Headley. After coming off a bad deal with Columbia Records, Ne-Yo originally decided to remain as a songwriter until a close friend introduced him to L.A. Reid who signed him to Def Jam Records on the spot.

The origin of the name Ne-Yo was given by a mutual friend who called him Neo because he could 'see' music akin to the character Neo from The Matrix trilogy. He altered the '-yo' part as an homage to his hip hop roots. Ne-Yo---New-York, see the resemblan...