MiddleChild: What's good?
NeYo: What up? What up?
MiddleChild: How things been going man?
NeYo: Pretty good.
MiddleChild: Well cool. The last time I spoke with you for the site your album had yet to drop so before we touch on all this new stuff you have going on I must tell you that "Mirror" and "Get Down Like That" are my two favorite joints from you. I can't get enough of those two tracks.
NeYo: Aww that's what's up man. I appreciate that.
MiddleChild: Ok. So first things first. Let's talk about this "Save The Last Dance 2" and how you got involved with the movie and the music behind it.
NeYo: Well just developing a relationship with the people over at MTV. You know MTV is the one who put the movie together. They were recognizing that I was an up and coming writer and it was going real good so they asked me to put together some songs for the soundtrack. I submitted a couple of songs and so they came back and asked me if I wanted to executive produce the soundtrack which I was a little concerned about because I didn't know what that meant at first. Like executive produce? What does that entail? Like, I don't know. So they explained to me and basically to executive produce is to oversee what material goes on the soundtrack and what material doesn't. And I was like "Okay. That's pretty much what I do anyway so let's go." So I helped executive produce the soundtrack. Worked with a lot of really really great artists. Joe, Ruben Studdard. Cassie's on there. Rihanna's on there. T-Pain is on there. Pitbull. It's a few different really really talented people and I think we came out with a really quality product.
MiddleChild: So did all the artists submit songs, you chose the artists or did you just have alot of completed songs to choose from? How does that work?
NeYo: I called in a couple of favors. I wrote the song for Ruben and I wrote the song for Joe. And there's a new artist. I wrote a good five or six songs on the soundtrack and you know I just called in people I knew to help me with it. And then Mass Appeal, who is the label that the soundtrack is being released under, called some people in and MTV got a few people and we made it happen.
MiddleChild: I saw the movie and checked you out in it. How was your transition into acting?
NeYo: Honestly a lot smoother than I thought it was just because acting is not my forte'. I'm not an actor, but it was alot easier than I thought it was going to be just because as far as the character I played. I played a character and his name is Mix. Mix is a nightclub owner and his whole backstory is that he's the youngest nightclub owner in the city and he happens to own the hottest nightclub in the city. So that gives him a little bit of an ego. A little attitude. Something like that. So they basically gave me a little direction for the character and was like "be who you would be if you owned a nightclub." So with that being said I basically got to play myself. You know. The hardest part was just finding patience to do the same scene a hundred different times. You know after awhile I'm like "am I doing something wrong and they just not telling me? You know? What's going on?" But the director explained to me "No no no. We gotta get it from this angle and that angle. Get it from above and this way and that way." There's so much more that goes into making a movie than say making a music video. It was a learning experience. It was a cool experience. I had alot of fun with it.
MiddleChild: And it shows because now you have another film coming out called "Stomp The Yard" coming in January. I'm real excited to see this. I've talked to Tyrell Washington and Columbus Short. Laz Alonso and it looks like it's going to be so hot. How did you get involved with that?
NeYo: Well Columbus Short, who stars in "Save The Last Dance 2". I met him on the set of the film and we became real cool friends. So when they approached him about "Stomp The Yard", they were telling him about the different characters and one of the character's named Rich BRown was supposed to play Columbus' character's best friend. He basically said my name to them and so they called me in for an audition just like anyone else. I auditioned for the part and they gave it to me. It's as simple as that.
MiddleChild: So tell me what's the hardest part about acting to you besides the numerous takes.
NeYo: Just uh...you know what? I got to commend actors. I would never call myself an actor or at least not yet because I feel that would be disrespectful to people who spent years honing their craft for me to do two little roles and try and call myself an actor. It's just you know actors have so much control over their emotions. For example, Megan Goode is in "Stomp The Yard". Her and Columbus. You could be having a conversation with these guys on some regular laughing and joking or whatever and as soon as the director says "Action! Sound!", Megan can turn the tears on. That takes skill. That takes like serious control over your emotions and I don't have that yet. So until I have that type of skill, I can't call myself an actor. That's the hardest part of it to me.
MiddleChild: No doubt. So are we going to see more acting from you in the future?
NeYo: Oh yea. I definitely may be doing some more roles. You know music is always going to be first though. Music is always going to be in the driver's seat, but now that I've added the whole acting thing to my repertoire, it'll definitely be something I try more of.
MiddleChild: Speaking of new music. Are you working on the new album yet?
NeYo: Yep! Yep! I'm working on it now as we speak. I'm a good sixteen, seventeen songs in. That's really nothing cuz the first one we had anywhere from 350-400 songs recorded to choose from. So you know, I'm just tryna get it in. There's been so much going on with the tour, the overseas tour and then coming back and the movie that I haven't really had time to sit down and for real for real focus on what I want this next album to sound like. So luckily I got some free time coming up. I'm shutting everything else down, not writing for no one else at the moment so I can really really get my full 100% attention to what this album is going to sound like. Cause I can't...I don't want to make the same album again, but I don't wanna go so far away from what people already expect from me. Know what I'm saying? I gotta figure out how to toe that line and that's going to take my focus and I'm going to figure that out.
MiddleChild: I checked you out on tour with Chris Brown in Atlanta and I was hoping to catch you in Birmingham on this Scream 5 tour, but they let my date go. So I'm sure I'll be catching you again soon enough. I also know you've worked with Megan Rochell and Mic Little on their projects they have coming out. Who else have you worked with besides them, Ruben and Joe?
NeYo: Mario Vasquez got a song out called "Gallery" that me and Stargate did for him. Of course Beyonce's "Irreplacable" is doing good. That's me and Stargate again. GOt some stuff with Enrique Iglesias. I actually had an opportunity to do a session with him. He was actually in the studio. He was there for the session. He real cool. Got some stuff I'm trying to get to Britney Spears. We were supposed to do a set down here in New York, but you know the papparazzi kind of messed that up. As soon as she hopped out the car to come in the studio, she was bombarded with people asking questions and taking pictures and she ain't feel like dealing with it so she bounced out and we ain't get to do the session. But we gon put that back together. Got some stuff I'm going to try and get to her. Paula Deanda. She is a new artist doing her thing. She's doing her thing. She did a song that me and Christina Milian co-wrote for her. Of course Heather Headley's album is doing pretty good. That's pretty much it currently. My main focus right now is getting this second album right. You know? So I'm going to shut it down in a bit.
MiddleChild: What would be your dream collaboration for this second album?
NeYo: Dream collaboration? Well my dream collaboration of all time would be me and Prince. I don't know if that will ever happen. I just don't seee it happening, but who knows what the future holds. I wuold love to do a song with Stevie. That'll be hot. I would love to do a song with Beyonce. I wrote a song for her, but would like to do one with her. That'll be cool. I totally forgot I got some stuff coming up on Jay's upcoming album. Jay-Z. That was a cool situation. Cool collabo. Honestly I got a list a mile long of people that I would love to collaborate with. Like, I wanna do something with a legend like Aretha Franklin or somebody like that. I think that would be hot.
MiddleChild: You've done so much before you even dropped and even more after you dropped your debut. This last year alone has been good to you. Tell me what has been the biggest lesson you've learned.
NeYo: Well the biggest lesson that I've learned. You know with this whole fame thing and celebrity or whatever you wanna call it. You gotta learn to take the good with the bad. I was pretty much prepared for...you know. Being a celebrity, that fame comes with a price. You kind of lose the whole personal space. You don't get that personal life. No privacy really. I understood that, but the backlash to that when you do try and have a personal life everybody's in your business. Twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. And being that if they can't find nothing, they make stuff up. You get rumors. You get accusations. You get all that type of stuff. And it was stuff I knew was there but I didn't gear myself up for it, so when it happened it hit me kind of hard and I was a little bothered by it. But honestly it just took me sitting down with my people and sitting outside myself to be like "Yo. It comes with the territory. It's part of the job description." And that's what I mean by you gotta take the good with the bad.
MiddleChild: Well cool. Well I wanna shout out two of my affiliates. Oh-neyo.com and ne-yofan.com. They show you mad love as well as MiddleChild. We all look out for you. It's been real cool watching your journey over the past year and we look forward to what you plan to bring us in the future.
NeYo: Absolutely.
MiddleChild: Cool. Well The "Save The Last Dance 2" DVD and soundtrack is in stores now. "Stomp The Yard" in January. Scream 5 Tour going on now and a new album on the way. We'll look out for you man.
NeYo: Aight man. Fo'sho. Take care.
MiddleChild: You too.
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