Ne-Yo. This could possibly be the first time that you’ve heard of his name but Ne-Yo spent the last few years of his career speaking through the voices of other artist such as Mario, Faith Evans, B2K, Musiq, and the Reigning Queen of Hip Hop and R&B herself, Mary J Blige. Until the release of “In My Words” on February 28 2006 he has almost been like a ghost. Presence known but a sight unseen. A smooth sweet talker that lacks the cool of Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye. That really shouldn’t be a negative because how many singers are as cool as Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye? Before you begin thinking, relax. It will all eventually come down to a matter of opinion.
“In My Own Words” stays true to the theme of the album. With only one guest appearance by Peedi Crak on “Stay”, the 1st single and track, the album really is in his words. He writes every single song and explores the ups and downs of his relationships.
The song that puts this album into play is the upbeat single “Stay” which uses a variety of percussion patterns that range from live to the standard dry R&B drum kits found on many sound modules. It’s a nice little tune that, unfortunately, most of his songs do not deviate from. The second song is also the first flawed. “Get Down Like That” recycles the same Bunny Sigler sample that is used for “No One Will Do.” The first song off of Mary J Blige’s new album “The Breakthrough.” If you do not own both albums then it may not bug you much. I would normally consider a track like “Get Down Like That” a decent R&B record from a talented singer/songwriter but not when another artist released the same record just two months before. Musically it fails for originality and takes away from his credibility as a songwriter. All hope isn’t lost because he redeems himself with respectable lyrics. He sings to ex girlfriends about his ‘healthy appetite for chicks’ but how he’ll never serve them with his love again once he is with that ‘one’ girl.
By the time you reach "So Sick" you may begin to notice a trend. He’s so predictable to the point where he’s almost not sincere. “I Ain’t Gotta Tell You” “Girlfriend” and “When Your Mad” are all songs that showcase the same slick talking loverboy attitude displayed throughout a good portion of the album. After a few listens of this album as a whole, I have to say that it gets annoyingly boring rather quickly due to uninspiring music that doesn’t evolve. He doesn’t or almost never strays from the synth strings, the rhodes, or simple piano chord progressions. Besides some mildly strong drum programming, as expressed in “It Just Aint Right” which samples Debarge’s “I Call Your Name”, there is nothing complex about this guy. Its as if he’s reserving himself purposely leaving room for growth and improvement for a 2nd album.
Aside from the most sensual song “Mirror”, which reflects Ne-Yo in his loverman mode and “Sign Me Up” an upbeat clubby track, the album doesn’t really go anywhere except in circles. In every song he is either serenading his woman with compliments or he’s singing about his dilemma of loving two woman.
Ne-Yo may have written songs for the multi platinum artists that you love but when it comes to his own work he’s just average. It seems that he has written an album full of mid tempo to slow jams I’ll dub as ‘Only for the Lovers.’ “In My Own Words” is a cool album but it doesn’t give you chills. He sings with heart but he lacks the ability to illustrate pain and passion when he sings. In my own words, the album is kind of like candy. You like the sweet taste but if you have too much of it you’ll feel….well sort of like what he explains in his 2nd single “So Sick.” There have been some exceptional R&B albums over the past few months that will appeal to the 20 something year old kids and Ne-Yo should not be an exception. It’s a decent album to own but one you may forget that you have if he doesn’t follow up with another album.
