Ne-Yo has some thoughts about the R&B Renaissance. In an interview with Page Six, the 42-year-old vocalist shared his opinion that romance has seemingly disappeared from the genre.
“R&B music definitely has gone through an era that is much harsher than we all remember,” the Arkansas-born father of three told the outlet. “‘I love you’ became ‘you my bitch.'”
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He continued, “Now it’s like, okay, we got to move with the times but at the same time, love is not a trend or a fade. It’s not something that is supposed to go out of style. It’s like saying water is going out of style. No, you need it to live.”
The “So Sick” singer added that he believes the reason that relationships today seem to end far faster than ever before has something to do with “the way that love has been approached as of late.”
“People don’t look at it the right way,” the Stomp the Yard actor explained. “It’s like everyone looking for love got some conditions on it. If he ain’t got this much money; if she ain’t got that much booty. Or whatever. And that is always going to be an issue for genuine love; genuine true love.”
According to Ne-Yo, if people would just “turn their eyes and ears off for a second” and “turn their hearts on” instead, then the sort of genuine connection that he speaks of could be possible.
“To genuinely love somebody outside of what you can see, touch, taste and smell… It runs deeper than that. I feel like once we get back to that then it will come back in the music and then everything will be all right,” he told Page Six.
In other news, the “Miss Independent” hitmaker will be hosting the 2022 Urban One Honours on Monday, January 17th, which will see Jennifer Hudson, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis take home the Icon Recipients Awards.
How do you feel about Ne-Yo’s comments on the current state of R&B? Debate in the comments.
[Via]