Ne-Yo is an American R&B singer-songwriter currently signed to Def Jam Records. He was best known for co-writing Mario's 2004 number-one hit, "Let Me Love You", before he began a recording career of his own in 2005. Ne-Yo's debut album, In My Own Words, was released in the late winter 2006 and debuted at number-one on The Billboard 200. During the same period, Ne-Yo's second single, "So Sick", became the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Ne-Yo had substantive success as a songwriter, co-authoring songs for artists such as Mary J. Blige, Ruben Studdard, Marques Houston, Faith Evans, Christina Milian, B2K, Nivea, Tyrese, Jamie Foxx and Heather Headley. After getting out of a record deal with Columbia Records that saw no released material, Ne-Yo decided to remain as a songwriter, but a close friend introduced him to L.A. Reid, who signed Ne-Yo on the spot to Def Jam Records. The singer's nickname was given to him by a friend, who stated that the singer could "see" music like Keanu Reeves's "Neo" character could see the Matrix in The Matrix film trilogy.
