Ne-Yo Soul

I obtained the latest Ne-Yo album about seven months ago, but never listened to anything from it until I recently put one of his songs on a mix I made for the drive up to Pennsylvania this past weekend.

The song is called "Part of the List"; it's kind of a run-of-the-mill love song, but I don't think Ne-Yo (who co-wrote the song) takes himself so seriously that he has to write about how much he "loves his shorty" or how "fine his bitches be". What is so interesting about this song is that Ne-Yo comes off so vulnerable singing it and how this song is so dissimilar to the current urban music zeitgeist of clockin' bitches and pullin' hoes. It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with that machismo and jocularity, but it seems disingenuous for a famous pop star singing or rapping about how pimp he is because he sleeps with so many women. Of course you do: being able to sleep with whomever one likes is one of the fringe benefits of having such vast exposure.

The song evokes emotions that haven't been willfully evoked by many pop stars in decades. I'm not saying that Ne-Yo is a modern day Al Green, nor am I claiming that he's an important artist...

But this song...this song is great. If this one song is indicative of the quality of the whole album, (which I recently purchase...just to make things legit) then the nomination it received for the Album of the Year at the Grammys is well-deserved.

The video is pretty interesting, too. I wonder if the videos from his current album are telling a linear narrative, because the end of this video seems to be abrupt and really needs to lead somewhere.

Check it out and get to know Ne-Yo and this song before it becomes one of the biggest hits of the summer.