A biography for Ne-Yohasn’t been written yet.
“Via social media, I reached out, asking about relationships, dreams, hopes, fears, the whole gambit, and the stories that really resonated with me, I wrote songs about.”
“With Jay-Z, it's hard not to be amazing.”
“Now that I have kids, I want my kids to appreciate my music, but at the same time, I don't want to teach them anything that they shouldn't know just yet.”
“I'm a fan of FKA Twigs, The Weeknd. I love that kind of ambient R&B. I feel like it's just another soldier in the war to blur the lines and make things to where it's good music and bad music.”
“Me being an artist working with dancers and seeing how hard they work, they are the first to show up and the last to leave. They work just as hard, if not harder, than me - and they never get credit for it.”
“'Battle: Los Angeles' - I've got to say this was easily one of the most physically trying things that I've ever done in my life because I play a Marine in the film, and they had us training with real live Marines for, like, three weeks. It gave me a whole new respect for just the armed forces, period.”
“My first song was 'So Sick,' which was my first number one as an artist, and I turned the mic around to the crowd, and they sang the whole song. Every lyric. That was my first experience with the power of music.”
“When 'Red Tails' came along, all I knew was that they were the first African-American fighter pilots in the U.S. Air Force. I had no idea how deep the story went or about all their amazing achievements. There were a few Tuskegee Airmen on the set to make sure everything was as authentic as possible.”
“Guilty pleasure implies that it's something that I feel guilty for watching... people tell me I should feel guilty for watching because I'm too old to watch it, but I don't give a damn: I love everything on Cartoon Network from 'Adventure Time' to 'The Adventures of Gumball', 'Teen Titans'... all those shows that are for my kids, I like those!”
“Of course, there are some things you keep personal and private because you're a human being. But on the other side of it, I ain't got time to be hiding nothing and all that. It is what it is.”
“Who directed the video 'No More Drama' for Mary J. Blige. I was actually kickin' with J. Lo talking about some music that we're gonna put together, and we were talking about great directors. She said she really, really liked that video and was wondering who directed it, so yeah, I looked it up!”
“I know everyone says attention spans are shorter now, and if you can't get them in the first 20 seconds, you lost them. But I honestly believe if you give someone something worth slowing down to really pay attention to, they will.”
“There's a whole advantage being an executive as an artist.”
“The Auto-Tune makes everybody sound the same and takes away all of the emotion because you're singing through this machine, and of course your taking all of this emotion out of your voice for the most part.”
“We are in a good place. Her name is Crystal Renay. She has much promise. Yes, much promise. Quality.”
“I probably wouldn't be singing if not for Michael Jackson. When I started singing, I didn't like my tone until my mom put me on to Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, so listening to the way they used their instrument helped me get more comfortable with my own.”
“I would love to be able to say that due to my experience in the music industry, when it comes to the songs, I'm killing it over anybody else, but that is not the case. Everybody in this thing is ridiculously talented to where I don't feel special.”
“All genres of music have to evolve, grow, and expand in order to maintain. I don't think there's anything wrong with the growth of R&B. I welcome it.”
“I want to connect with my fans the way Mary J. Blige's fans connect with her.”
“Chimere's not mine. That hurt 'cause I had attached myself to this guy, you know. This is my son. I'm looking at him, and I'm picturing I'm gonna be old, and he's gonna be - this is my son! It's not my son.”