The singer issued his second studio attempt titled Because Of You in 2007. Of course after such a strong long play the listeners were waiting for Ne-Yo’s following album. It goes without saying that it perfectly proved the highest level of the record.
The debut turned out to be very confident due to the fact that My Own Words peaked at the first places in two charts: Billboard 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The musician’s debut work In My Own Words saw the light in 2006 and it got favourable reviews from the critics. Nevertheless, Ne-Yo’s bright compositions were noticed: Marques Houston recorded the song That Girl, which he later presented in his album MH (2003), while Ne-Yo gained a reputation of talented composer. The singer signed the contract with Columbia Records, but finally the company refused to release his album, in spite of the fact that all the songs had been already recorded. He kept on improving his skills while creating music for various performers, and a bit later he started preparing his own material. The group was disbanded in 2000, however Ne-Yo did not even think about giving up. That was the place where Ne-Yo started the musical career as a member of R&B band called Envy.
After his parents’ divorce the future singer stayed with his mother and they moved to Las-Vegas. It was not a surprise that Ne-Yo decided to pursue a creative career – both his parents were musicians and probably that was the fact that predetermined young Smith’s career. American musician Shaffer Chimere Smith performing under the pseudonym Ne-Yo was born in 1982 in Camden, Arkansas.