Do you guys genuinely feel that Ne-Yo has had an impact/influence in music?

I like Ne-Yo & he was featured alot during the golden ages of the 2000s. I def had him on my ipods, my Zune (How many of ya had a Zune?? Lol I loved mines - it was customed) I still have him on my music apps. I think he deserves more recognition

He made hits but I don't think he wrote any career defining hits for the people who sang his music.

Neyo's music was "of the time". It didn't age well at all imo.

Fries fall said:

He made hits but I don't think he wrote any career defining hits for the people who sang his music.

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These were some pretty BIG songs when they came out:

Irreplaceable - Beyonce
Unfaithful - Rihanna
Give Me Everything - Pitbull (they play this at so many parties and major celebrations) and it is one of the best selling singles of all time
Closer - Ne-Yo

All of the above are songs that still get played. Irreplaceable is Beyonce's biggest hit.

Just because you aren’t at the forefront does not mean you didn’t impact music. For example Quincy Jones and Smokey Robinson are not as big as the music they gave to other people. Not saying Ne-Yo is at their level but I’m just showing how influential someone behind the scenes can be to the sound of music for their era.

The sound and vocals we all recite may not have been sung by him (like Irreplaceable) but it was expressed through other artist that took the music further than he could have. Irreplaceable would not have been a hit if he released it himself. Beyoncé took that song much further than he ever could have but in my book he gets as much credit as she does for the song.

Imo his first album is a classic and he has wrote legendary hits. Let me love you, irreplaceable, etc are timeless songs that have influence and will be studied and sang many generations from now.

I don’t care for him, but he definitely ruled an era, and had a distinct sound that a lot of people were after. He can get a few daisies or whatever.

Karvel said:

Neyo's music was "of the time". It didn't age well at all imo.

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I think some of his hits that were for the EDM crowd apply to what you’re saying. But Sexy Love, When your mad, So Sick, Because of you, Miss Independent, She got her own, etc still hit to this day.

He made an impact for sure. He’s one of the premier R&B artists of the 2000s. I think he’ll be remembered as that

a triple junior whooper Michael Jackson meets babyface and he faded years ago, I feel he has 50 cent piece coin songs however no money tracks.

he is decent and good vocalist, milk toasty live act and stiff like John legend.

overall average.

It was an era. wow! That time has come to even call that time nostalgic. where does the time go?

Of course! Miss Independent, Champagne Life, So Sick, Closer, Because of You are hits!!!

It was a time when he was EVERYWHERE.

the musicman said:

a triple junior whooper Michael Jackson meets babyface and he faded years ago, I feel he has 50 cent piece coin songs however no money tracks.

he is decent and good vocalist, milk toasty live act and stiff like John legend.

overall average.

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you and your imagery are hilarious.. Lol!

_PrincessNiq said:

I like Ne-Yo & he was featured alot during the golden ages of the 2000s. I def had him on my ipods, my Zune (How many of ya had a Zune?? Lol I loved mines - it was customed) I still have him on my music apps. I think he deserves more recognition

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I had a Zune too lol I was in middle school

He definitely had an impact. To suggest otherwise is crazy.

_PrincessNiq said:

I like Ne-Yo & he was featured alot during the golden ages of the 2000s. I def had him on my ipods, my Zune (How many of ya had a Zune?? Lol I loved mines - it was customed) I still have him on my music apps. I think he deserves more recognition

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I still have my custom personalized Zune HD lol

He definitely made an impact. He has written multiple #1 pop hits for people.

MariahFan14 said:

I still have my custom personalized Zune HD lol

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@Young Cutler Yesssssss!!! I'm glad to finally meet people who had one lol I had two - my dad got me one & my lil boo in high school got me a custom one so my dad took his back and got me another ipod. The amount of mp3 we had back then were endless. Ugh! I miss those days.

& don't let me burn you some cds for $10! LOL And everyone had Neyo on them.

Yes!

danny785 said:

That’s my thing, premiered artist “of the 2000s”. Is that actual impact? One would say Lloyd or even Mario were also premier artists of that time. Obvs Ne-yo more so, but is that actual impact?



I don’t go back to it as often as I do older usher music. The songs still hit but looking back, it’s not that it didn’t age well to me, it just feels overall generic.

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I would say it is. He’s able to tour till this day off of his 2000s hits. Ppl remember him and play his music. What else do you want?

I think he's talented. Has he moved the genre forward? I don't think so. However, most artist don't.

I went to see neyo in Philly for $40 last summer and he was amazing I felt like he should've been playing in the wells fargo center not the mann

His music still hits til this day! Separating the artist from the person, he has definitely made a mark. OP’s post has me laughing cuz his head shape is indeed funny!

danny785 said:

You think Ne-yo has an overall sound/ helped create a sound that’s replicated in music to this day like Quincy did with Michael Jackson?

Did help create a sound or did he chase a sound? Someone here mentioned EDM, he chased that like a bunch of other artists did at that time.

To your last paragraph, others like The Dream and Johnta Austin did that. The difference is they respectively helped contribute to the overall sounds of beyonce, Mariah Carey and usher that is felt to this day. Ne-yo wrote a couple of hits for some big artists. Johnta was by Usher’s side when he did the Super Bowl. Was Ne-yo by Beyonce or Rihanna’s side?

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No i wasn’t bringing in Quincy’s and Smokey’s name to compare them to Ne-Yo he has influence but he’s not close to their level. My overall point was you don’t need to be a performer like Beyoncé, MJ, Usher, etc to have an impact in music. There’s levels to it but Ne-Yo wrote GREAT songs and has one classic album imo.

That was me who mentioned the edm lol. I think he did both. Since R & B isn’t where it once was I think he had to do what he had to do to adapt. Everybody that wanted mainstream relevance did EDM/Autotune so I don’t hold that against him. Ushers OMG is an example of riding the EDM wave but I would never say that defines his career.

I don’t think Ne-Yo had a “sound” like we’d say Teddy Riley did or Dream and Johnta. But the emotion you get from listening to his music is impactful. Songs like Let me Love you, take a bow, irreplaceable, spot light, so sick, etc elevates songwriting/music as a whole. I could see these songs being studied/covered for years to come. Which is where the impact comes in.

chelly1986 said:

Just because you aren’t at the forefront does not mean you didn’t impact music. For example Quincy Jones and Smokey Robinson are not as big as the music they gave to other people. Not saying Ne-Yo is at their level but I’m just showing how influential someone behind the scenes can be to the sound of music for their era.

The sound and vocals we all recite may not have been sung by him (like Irreplaceable) but it was expressed through other artist that took the music further than he could have. Irreplaceable would not have been a hit if he released it himself. Beyoncé took that song much further than he ever could have but in my book he gets as much credit as she does for the song.

Imo his first album is a classic and he has wrote legendary hits. Let me love you, irreplaceable, etc are timeless songs that have influence and will be studied and sang many generations from now.

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I agree his pen game is lethal. He's very talented

Ne-Yo was one of many artists they tried to replace Usher with in the 2000s. What set him apart was being a songwriter who wrote hits for other artists and that helped him ride a wave for a little longer than a minute.

Some folks are the Brian McKnights of their time and that's okay.

Neyo had hits, both of his own and ones he wrote for others. I think the thing no one is saying is that he reads as corny. He never quite exuded swag or charm. That thing that makes women swoon or men respect it.

But you can’t deny any of the hits mentioned above. I almost forgot how good those songs were.

Pretzel Logic said:

Closer - Ne-Yo

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This was his peak, IMO.

Not only is this my favorite song of his, but I really liked the singles from that album

godiva said:

you and your imagery are hilarious.. Lol!

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I laughed myself. however he was tiers below others. I saw his movie career as well.

he had a mini run, and basically making it ran for the older granny crowds

As an artist only, I don't think Neyo made a significance impact. This is no slight on him. Neyo had some stiff competition in the R&B and EDM markets. He's overshadowed because there were others who did what he was doing better and sexier. He also released songs that were mostly non-vulgar towards women (Miss Independent, She Got Her Own, One In A Million). I don't think he was taken seriously, because he was "safe" and polite male artist.

the musicman said:

I laughed myself. however he was tiers below others. I saw his movie career as well.

he had a mini run, and basically making it ran for the older granny crowds

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ok lets not get carried away now. NO granny over here lol!

Neyo is a very talented songwriter

His solo music wasn’t good at all. He was like a Jason Derulo.

Although he was on a roll as a writer and producer, I don’t think he had a major impact on music (it’s sound, it’s aesthetic, etc).

I don’t know how to explain it.

I did like that he’d use punchlines in R&B songs though.