NeYo is a pretty famous dude, it seems....His work has been nominated for several Grammy awards, has co-written and co-starred on a number of Number One-charting tracks with the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna. And yet, prior to a week or two ago, I had no idea the man ever existed.
Or, rather, I knew he existed--I'd heard his name dropped here and there around on MTV and elsewhere...but I had no interest in listening to his music. As far as I could tell, he was just another Akon--some butter-voiced thumbdick singing generic R&B about women givin' thugs love in da club and blah blah blah. The shit that most consider "R&B" these days is little more than watered-down hiphop performed by "singers" groomed for their images and their sex-appeal than for their voices and/or songwriting talents.
Well...boy was I fuckin' wrong in NeYo's case. A couple months ago I remember hearing a song on the radio that had a real banging dance beat, some interesting instrumentation, and some excellent vocals that recalled the soulful voices of Kool & The Gang's James "J. T." Taylor or El DeBarge. I found my head bobbing along and even found myself grooving along to the slick, completely un-thuggish quality of the singer's voice. I knew the song was called "Closer" but just recently discovered it was by NeYo. Then I caught his latest single, "Mad," on the radio during my Attempt At Listening to Pop Music Week(s) Experiment...and, damn, I thought: this is some honest-to-god sensual, spiritual R&B that attempted to seduce its listeners with honest emotion rather than the typical "jump on dis 'cause my dick so big" innuendo of the shit packaged as "R&B" these days.
I simply
had to get NeYo's latest album,
Year of the Gentleman, and y'know...this
is gentlemanly music. Take today's jam, "Miss Independent," for example.
Yeah...to some degree, the music sounds typical of contemporary R&B: somewhat generic...but at least very crisp, clean, and melodic. The arpeggiated synths have a slight techno touch, the beat has an ever-so-slight reggaeton touch that gives the plodding bass and the sultry acoustic guitar lead an energy that is nonetheless relaxed and slick. This song is primarily driven by NeYo's smoove-B voice and the lyrics, which are about as far from the usual "seducing drunk bitches at the club and knocking them up" blather that fills the airwaves these days, <cranky old man rant>poisoning the minds and loins of our youth</crank old man rant>. Take a look at these samples from the verses:
Something about the kind of woman that want you but don't need you....
and
There's something about the kind of woman that do for herself
I look at her and it makes me proud....
There's something oh so sexy about the kinda woman that don't even need my help
she said she got it, she got it, no doubt
there's something about her
'Cause she work like a boss, play like a boss--
Car and a crib, she 'bout to pay 'em both off
And her bills are paid on time
Now that is some seriously gentlemanly, completely un-G-like sentiment. This isn't your usual senseless-seduction jam--this is a song about a man who wants a woman who is responsible and at the same level of responsibility that he is at...and he's so fortunate to have found her. This ain't Kelly Clarkson's sad attempt at a song of the same title here. Hey, I like Kelly Clarkson--a lot--but her "Miss Independent" is about a paranoid bitch who thinks she's too jaded for love and always on the defensive suddenly discovering that she can feel love in the Right Circumstances. OK, all well and good...but NeYo's "Miss Independent" is a song about a man discovering that he can love a woman who's seriously got her shit together, who is just as much a boss as he is.
In fact, I think this jam is the ultimate Anti-Gangsta song: the antidote to the millions of songs out there that just expect women to grind their booties on a playa's dick and fall for his every bullshit line and become his welfare-livin' babymama. THANK YOU, NeYo, for standing up for real men who want real women--women who can handle their own affairs, who can stand on their own and don't need to be droppin' it low in front of some sweaty, blinged-out peckerwood.
I sincerely hope more R&B artists will take NeYo's lead and truly make this the Year of the Gentleman. Of course there's always going to a measure of seduction in R&B, but NeYo's seductive voice doesn't promise a quick, pointless lay, but a real seduction...something rich in emotion and honest in approach. But ladies, you gots to hold up your end of the bargain, too, and stop handing out your twats as easily as you would your phone numbers. A gentleman needs a lady...so why don't you take Mr. NeYo's advice and bring a little sophistication to your life. Trade those ten-pound ugly-ass cubic zirconia chandeliers hanging from your ears for some tasteful diamond studs. Trade the stripper dress for a sex little black number that suggests sexuality rather than shouts it. There must be good women out there...but if there are, you gotta start looking the part. Because NeYo ain't going home with some ho-bag with her rancid thong hanging out. Save that for fuckin' Sisqo...if you can ever find him these days, that is.
