Moonwalker.Fan
Proud Member
Ne-Yo on Working with Michael Jackson
By Lee Hawkins
Just months before Michael Jackson died, recording artist and songwriter Ne-Yo was working with him on several songs. With the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death coming on June 25, Ne-Yo spoke with the Journal about his work with Jackson, and discussed some of the challenges involved with writing songs for such a legendary music figure.
“I had to take off the thought of, ‘OK, I’m writing a song for Michael Jackson.’ I had to take that off and just write records. Because, if you go in the studio and [think], ‘I’m writing a song for Michael Jackson, all of sudden, everything you do sucks. Nothing is good enough. You think, ‘Michael would never sing this.’”
Though his moves are often compared to Jackson’s, and he wowed the crowd recently as a special performing guest on “Dancing With The Stars,” Ne-Yo said he doesn’t consider himself a great dancer. Chris Brown, he said, is one of the best dancers in the music business right now. He praised Brown’s ability to freestyle and create moves on the spot, as opposed to only using dance moves carefully invented and taught to him by a choreographer. “He can just get up and dance, and that’s fantastic. I’m not that guy.”
Though his next album slated to be released in September, Ne-Yo is spending more time than usual developing new businesses extending from his brand, including a line of the hats that have become his on-stage trademark and a new liquor beverage that will be announced in the coming weeks.
VIDEO - http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/05/28/how-ne-yos-mom-helped-launch-his-career/
<object id="wsj_fp" width="512" height="363"><param name="movie" value="http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashvars" value="videoGUID=E93BB7B9-F2C7-4C6B-B980-FE42BA2485A0&playerid=1000&plyMediaEnabled=1&configURL=http://wsj.vo.llnwd.net/o28/players/&autoStart=false" base="rtmpt://wsj.fcod.llnwd.net/a1318/o28/video"name="main"></param><embed src="http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashVars="videoGUID=E93BB7B9-F2C7-4C6B-B980-FE42BA2485A0&playerid=1000&plyMediaEnabled=1&configURL=http://wsj.vo.llnwd.net/o28/players/&autoStart=false" base="rtmpt://wsj.fcod.llnwd.net/a1318/o28/video" name="main" width="512" height="363" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>
By Lee Hawkins
Just months before Michael Jackson died, recording artist and songwriter Ne-Yo was working with him on several songs. With the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death coming on June 25, Ne-Yo spoke with the Journal about his work with Jackson, and discussed some of the challenges involved with writing songs for such a legendary music figure.
“I had to take off the thought of, ‘OK, I’m writing a song for Michael Jackson.’ I had to take that off and just write records. Because, if you go in the studio and [think], ‘I’m writing a song for Michael Jackson, all of sudden, everything you do sucks. Nothing is good enough. You think, ‘Michael would never sing this.’”
Though his moves are often compared to Jackson’s, and he wowed the crowd recently as a special performing guest on “Dancing With The Stars,” Ne-Yo said he doesn’t consider himself a great dancer. Chris Brown, he said, is one of the best dancers in the music business right now. He praised Brown’s ability to freestyle and create moves on the spot, as opposed to only using dance moves carefully invented and taught to him by a choreographer. “He can just get up and dance, and that’s fantastic. I’m not that guy.”
Though his next album slated to be released in September, Ne-Yo is spending more time than usual developing new businesses extending from his brand, including a line of the hats that have become his on-stage trademark and a new liquor beverage that will be announced in the coming weeks.
VIDEO - http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/05/28/how-ne-yos-mom-helped-launch-his-career/
<object id="wsj_fp" width="512" height="363"><param name="movie" value="http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashvars" value="videoGUID=E93BB7B9-F2C7-4C6B-B980-FE42BA2485A0&playerid=1000&plyMediaEnabled=1&configURL=http://wsj.vo.llnwd.net/o28/players/&autoStart=false" base="rtmpt://wsj.fcod.llnwd.net/a1318/o28/video"name="main"></param><embed src="http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashVars="videoGUID=E93BB7B9-F2C7-4C6B-B980-FE42BA2485A0&playerid=1000&plyMediaEnabled=1&configURL=http://wsj.vo.llnwd.net/o28/players/&autoStart=false" base="rtmpt://wsj.fcod.llnwd.net/a1318/o28/video" name="main" width="512" height="363" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>
