Ne-Yo, born Shaffer Chimere Smith on October 18, 1979, is an American R&B and pop singer, songwriter and sometimes rapper and is of African-American and Chinese descent. “In My Own Words,” his debut album, was released in early 2006 by Def Jam Recordings and debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. Ne-Yo’s second single, “So Sick,” which was produced by Stargate, hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As famous as he is for his singing, he’s also famous for his songwriting, writing songs like Rihanna’s “Unfaithful,” Mario’s “Let Me Love You,” Mario Vazquez’s “Gallery,” Paula DeAnda’s “Walk Away (Remember Me)” and Beyoncé's number-one hit “Irreplaceable.”
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“Because of you,” his second album, was released May 1, 2007 and the first single was the title song. He has said he wrote songs for Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Corbin Bleu and Enrique Iglesias for their next albums; he also said he’d write songs for Craig David, Usher, Chris Brown, Jennifer Hudson, and Leona Lewis. He recently said that producer will.i.am contacted him to work on Michael Jackson’s upcoming album and is working with Lindsay Lohan on new material. In 2007, he started a recording studio, Carrington House, and his own label, Compound Entertainment that Paula Campbell, Sixx John and Shanell are associated with now. He performed with the Goo Goo Dolls in December 2007 at a fundraising concert for presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama.