Ne-Yo is currently gearing up to release his eighth studio album, Self-Explanatory, this Friday, and while doing a press run for his forthcoming project, the Grammy winner checked in with the FAQ Podcast for an hour-long exclusive interview.
Throughout the podcast, Ne-Yo touched on a myriad of topics ranging from the real-life story that inspired his song "Pinky Ring" to his love for the simplistic songwriting on Tems and Wizkid's inescapable hit song "Essence." In the last stretch of the interview, the veteran singer-songwriter turned his attention to the new wave of R&B artists, giving props to singers with distinct voices and sounds like H.E.R., Giveon, and Lucky Daye.
After he mentioned Lucky Daye, however, Ne-Yo went down memory lane for a moment and revealed that he and the Candydrip artist were closely working together in the late 2000s. According to Ne-Yo, he was planning on signing Lucky Daye to his Compound Entertainment imprint on Def Jam, and he had also originally tapped the rising artist — who was then performing under his government name David Brown — for a feature on "She Got Her Own" in 2008.
"He was going by David Brown. We were working," Ne-Yo explained. "The remix to 'Miss Independent' with me, and Jamie Foxx, and Fab? Jamie Foxx's verse — Lucky Daye wrote that verse. He wrote the verse because it was supposed to be him."
However, Ne-Yo claimed that issues arose between them that led to Lucky Daye being replaced on "She Got Her Own."
"I was going on a short little run or whatever, and I let Mr. Daye stay at my house," Ne-Yo said. "Now at this point, I have a big beautiful house, and I'm like, 'Bruh, you've got full reign of the crib. You can go wherever you want to go, do whatever you want to do — just don't go in my room.' I come back one morning. Open the door up, I don't see this dude nowhere. I go upstairs to my room. Sure enough, he's asleep with a chick in my bed."
"He had no excuse. What could he say?!" Ne-Yo continued. "I gave you one rule. One. Told you one place you couldn't go. Mind you — big crib. There's rooms, a backyard, whatever. Just don't go in this room. Not only are you in my room, you're in my bed. You in my bed with somebody. At the time, I was upset. I was mad, so that was kind of the end of that whole situation. Like bruh, if you can't follow this simple rule, I don't know if this thing gon' work."
Watch Ne-Yo's full FAQ Podcast interview below.
Ne-Yo's eighth studio album, Self-Explanatory, is set to arrive in a matter of days, so stay tuned for more Ne-Yo-related content and let us know in the comments how you feel about the R&B vet's podcast comments.