Ne-Yo

“Me as an artist, I'm more notorious for writing songs that celebrate women, songs that are all about the positive element of the immensely confusing creature that is woman.”

“As an artist, you know as a person in the public eye, period, you kind of have a responsibility to the younger kids that are watching and emulating what you do.”

“I'm not a natural. I had to teach myself - or be taught - everything I do. I just spent hours and hours in the mirror mimicking Michael Jackson.”

“When you're dressing on a budget, simplicity is key.”

“Temptation is just that - she's the girl you claim you don't want, but in the moment, you have more drinks than you should in the club. One thing leads to another, and suddenly you've done something really stupid. You've jeopardized what could've potentially been a really great relationship, all due to temptation.”

“Movies take a long time because movies take a long damn time to put work into. Whereas music, you don't have as much time. I didn't realize that.”

“The story of 'Libra Scale,' the storyline was created first, and then the music was created around the story line.”

“I needed to be sexier. I needed to be more hip. I needed to be more edgy and this and that. 'No, don't write that kind of song, write this type of song. No, don't work with that producer, work with this producer. No, don't wear those clothes, wear these clothes.' And I didn't want to be a puppet, you know?”

“I dreamed of one day starring in a film. I've done that twice. Denzel Washington has done it countless times, so I still got some work to do.”

“It's really rare that an entire genre of music allows an artist from a different genre to come and live there.”

“I've been a huge Adele fan since I heard her album '19.'”

“Doing as much as you can for as long as you can - that's the motto.”

“All my musical influences came from my mom, who did everything to music. She played it 24 hours a day, seven days a week in our house. So that's where my love for music came from.”

“The unfortunate thing about this planet is that we are in no shortage of ignorance.”

“I'm trying to bring something new to the Tin Man. He may be the one without the heart, but he's the most heartfelt guy there. It's a more manly heartfelt, a 'don't feel sorry for me' - type of heartfelt. I don't want to say tougher, because that just sounds stupid. But the Tin Man is a man's man.”

“We're falling into a place where melody is somewhat lacking in music. Everybody feels like, okay, too much melody or too much harmony, and it kind of goes over people's heads; they don't understand it.”

“I've never done this from a standpoint of, 'I want to be famous.' I sing because I love singing. I perform because I love performing.”

“I never really created a difference between Shaffer Smith, my actual name, and Ne-Yo. They are kind of one in the same. It's been a bit of a gift and a curse. As far as Shaffer Smith is concerned, I've never viewed myself as a celebrity.”

“I pride myself on being the type of artist who can work half in the R&B world and half in the pop world.”

“'Madden' is the closest thing to actually being on the field yourself. It's so ridiculously realistic. Before I play it, I honestly didn't understand. 'What's all the hype? It's a video game'. Then I sat down and played it, and you feel like you're on the field.”