Trent: You’ve worked with many of the biggest artists in the game including Beyonce, Mariah & Jennifer Hudson. Who has been your favourite artist to work with and why?
Ne-Yo: Wow…well out of everybody you just named it’s difficult to pick favourite. Everybody has their own swag and there are good things about working with each of them.
With Beyonce, for example, I love how hands on she is with everything that she does. Not too long ago I did some sessions with her for her forthcoming album that she’s putting together and she’s the kind of artist that knows exactly what she wants.
She is not a ‘paper doll’ artist and what I mean by that is that a paper doll is inanimate and you dress it up to make it exactly how you want it to look and it’s just there waiting for you to put something on it. That’s not who she is. She is definitely in there like “I don’t think I would say that” or “I want the song to feel like this” or whatever the case might be by leading the pen.
Even if she’s not writing the song herself or at least not all the time, she’s definitely leading the pen to get exactly what she wants so that it has that Beyonce stamp on it and I love that. I feel like if I give you a song and you sing it exactly the way I sang it then you might as well let me keep it. That doesn’t make any sense. I want you to do something to make it yours and I never have that problem with Beyonce.
Trent: Now the obvious question that I think the fans will strangle me for if I don’t ask it is this: we know you’re currently working on Beyonce’s new album and we know that she has sworn you to secrecy but can you tell us about the album? Is she working on mid-tempos, uptempos, breakup songs, love songs or what?
Ne-Yo: I have been told that Beyonce has ninjas following me. I cannot see them and I cannot hear them but if I say anything about her project they will jump out and slit my throat. In order to maintain my life and my singing ability I’m going to have to say nothing. {laughs}
http://thatgrapejuice.net/2011/03/grape-juice-interview-neyo-2/
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Ne-Yo, a true singer-songwriter who co-wrote Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” says early in his career he had to deal with the same thing. He says some artists feel they are doing a novice a favor by recording their song — especially if it becomes a hit — so they deserve a piece of the royalties.
“I give other people credit where credit is due, like Beyoncé really did vocally arrange (‘Irreplaceable’),” Ne-Yo says. “So for someone to come in and take my credit because they are who they are? That doesn’t work for me. I don’t care who you are. ... I’m not going to give you something you don’t deserve.”
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19940398
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"Beyoncé's 'Irreplaceable' is doing really well, that [song] is racing up the charts," Ne-Yo said recently in New York. "She had some stuff that she wanted to get off her chest, and that's what she did. An artist's art really only has to make sense to the artist, and if the rest of the world catches on, that's cool too. If they don't, hey, 'This is my art, leave me alone.' "
The world seems to be catching on. B's album, B'Day, has been shooting back up the charts — it'll hit #6 next week on the Billboard albums chart, selling over 173,000 copies — and "Irreplaceable" is also the #3 song in the country.
"Beyoncé writes [for] herself, but if she has somebody writing something for her, she's not going to sing it if it doesn't make sense to her," Ne-Yo explained, providing some insight into collaborating with Ms. Knowles. "It's gotta be something that holds some weight with her."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1546805/20061129/ne_yo.jhtml
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He explained, "Apparently Beyonce was at a show somewhere and right before the song came on she said, 'I wrote this for my girls' and then the song came on."
He continued, "The song is a co-write. I wrote the lyrics, I wrote all the lyrics. Beyonce helped me with the melodies and the harmonies and the vocal arrangement and that makes it a co-write. Meaning my contribution and her contribution made that song what it is."
The 'Sexy Love' singer went to explain, "When I talk about 'Let Me Love You' I don't always speak on the other person that wrote that song with me... If you ask me did I write 'Let Me Love You' I'm gonna say yeah I did."
"She wasn't trying to discredit me, she wasn't trying to take any credit from me, Beyonce is not that kind of person, I know her personally and I know that she wouldn't do me like that."
He added, "I appreciate the love but it wasn't that big a deal."
http://www.mtv.tv/news/Ne-Yo-clears-up-Beyonce-confusion-11687/
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"The thing about working with Beyoncé is that she definitely has her own agenda," the "Irreplaceable" songwriter told MTV News about the hush-hush song (or songs) the pair worked on together. "She's an artist that knows exactly what she wants to do."
So how does it go down when you walk into a studio to find Beyoncé sitting there ready to work?
"She's going to give you directions [like] 'Here's where I'm going, so here's where I need you to be,' " Ne-Yo explained. "And, you know, I'm a person that follows direction well. [And she'll be like], 'So this is the sound, this is the vibe; make it happen.' And I write and she likes it or she doesn't. And in this case she did, and there you have it."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1648430/20100922/ne_yo.jhtml
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Original Demo of Irreplaceable
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http://www.ajc.com/news/three-questions-with-ne-605414.html
Three questions with Ne-Yo
Q: So how is this new collaboration with Beyonce coming?
Ne-Yo: (After a good chuckle) It’s coming along nicely. I can’t speak too much on it, but it’s another direction for her, and she’s carving out her own niche. In a minute nobody will be in Beyonce’s lane. They really can’t get in her lane now, but they really can’t get in her lane after this album. (Note: Ne-Yo collaborated with Beyonce in 2006 for her “B’day” CD. He helped pen “Irreplaceable,” which became one of Beyonce’s biggest hits.)
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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1648430/20100922/ne_yo.jhtml
Beyonce Has An 'Agenda' For New Album, Ne-Yo Says
Beyoncé may have killed off Sasha Fierce for her next album, but that doesn't mean that whatever she turns out won't be just as, dare we say, fierce as her previous effort. And Ne-Yo, who reveals he is working with the megastar on the follow-up to 2008's I Am ... Sasha Fierce, says that it's easy-peasy working with Bey, mostly because she knows exactly what she wants.
"The thing about working with Beyoncé is that she definitely has her own agenda," the "Irreplaceable" songwriter told MTV News about the hush-hush song (or songs) the pair worked on together. "She's an artist that knows exactly what she wants to do."
So how does it go down when you walk into a studio to find Beyoncé sitting there ready to work? "She's going to give you directions [like] 'Here's where I'm going, so here's where I need you to be,' " Ne-Yo explained. "And, you know, I'm a person that follows direction well. [And she'll be like], 'So this is the sound, this is the vibe; make it happen.' And I write and she likes it or she doesn't. And in this case she did, and there you have it."
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On Working With Beyoncé: "Working with Beyoncé is some of the most useless I’ve ever felt because she doesn’t need any help. She’s that good. I think I might have stepped out of the room to get tea, came back, and the song was done."
http://www.fuse.tv/videos/2012/10/ne-yo-pranking-one-direction-working-jay-z-beyonce
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That’s happened before. Here’s my thing, when I write a song for an artist I want that artist to take that song and make it their [own]. If you listen to my version of “Irreplaceable” and listen to Beyonce’s version of “Irreplaceable”, its two damn totally different songs with all the harmonies and extra stuff she put in there. So yea, I gave her her writer’s credit because that counts. That’s writing. That harmony that you put right there. That little background part, I didn’t write that originally. You put that in there, so for her to take the song and make it her’s, I didn’t mind her saying ‘I wrote this song for my girls’ at a concert or whatever the case may be. Because in a way, technically, she did put her spin on it. If you gonna do it the exact same way I did it, you might as well let me keep it.”
http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/08/09/beyonces-songwriting-credits-are-well-deserved/