Sonic and Ne-yo
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Check, check, check, check, testy, hello.
00:09How are you guys doing?
00:12I met a couple of you guys over here.
00:14Have I met you guys?
00:15Thanks for listening to 104.3 Jams, by the way, appreciate you guys.
00:20Big things happening around here, especially the weather, I don't know, you guys are lucking
00:23out too, huh?
00:24I feel weird wearing a crew neck, you know what I'm saying?
00:27My name's Sonic, 104.3 Jams, if you don't know me, appreciate you guys being here, appreciate
00:31you listening, especially on the Odyssey app streaming us.
00:34We got a three-time Grammy Award winner, legend in the building, icon, he's right here.
00:40Yeah, there he is.
00:42Hey, Neo, welcome Neo to the Blue Cross Blue Shield performance stage with Odyssey.
00:46Very good, good to see you.
00:51I was going to do this big old introduction, but the list is long, Neo, you're an icon,
00:58man.
00:59You got so many accolades and stuff.
01:00You're working on a new project, I was streaming your new song, Show Me.
01:04Yeah, man, yeah, yeah.
01:05Well, I mean, you released a new song, Show Me.
01:07Got some new music out there, absolutely.
01:10Show Me is a sexy, sensual record, you know what I'm saying?
01:13It's one of those to add to your baby-making playlist, your chilling with my boo playlist,
01:18it's one of those.
01:19Everything that's right with R&B is right with this record, but don't take my word for
01:22it.
01:23Check it out for yourself when you get a minute.
01:24I mean, all your records are like that.
01:25I appreciate that.
01:26You know what I'm saying?
01:27I appreciate that.
01:2823 billion plus streams, yeah, but you're right with Show Me, man, that record had me
01:32texting my ex-girlfriend.
01:33Hey, what's going on?
01:34Where you been?
01:35How you doing?
01:36Hey, careful now, careful.
01:37Listen, if you have a baby based off this record, I apologize or congratulations, one
01:42of the two, one of the two.
01:43Please don't, man.
01:44Eggs are expensive these days, man.
01:45Oh, damn.
01:46I'm going to put you in the hole.
01:48Everything that's going on in the world today, man, it's different, it's different.
01:52So you're still living in Atlanta?
01:53Yeah, yeah.
01:54I'm still in Atlanta.
01:55The neo compound?
01:56Loving it out there.
01:57Atlanta has definitely become home.
02:00I enjoy it, man.
02:01It's just enough city, just enough country.
02:03I'm originally from Camden, Arkansas, grew up in Las Vegas, so a little bit of city,
02:07a little bit of country in there, and Atlanta fits right in the middle, it's perfect.
02:11And your track record, when it comes to songwriting, there's Scotty out there, what's up, boy?
02:16You've worked with so many artists, Rihanna, to name a few, I mean, huge artists like Rihanna,
02:20Beyonce, you've written songs for them, Irreplaceable, you wrote that, what else did you write?
02:25I got it right here, hold on.
02:27Take a bow.
02:28I love that record, too.
02:29Yes, sir.
02:30So you still talk to Rihanna?
02:31You still in contact with her, keep up with her?
02:32We haven't spoken in a while, she's got a whole bunch of things going on in her life
02:36right now, as do I, so situation, circumstance, and schedule just tend to have us going in
02:42two different directions, but ain't no love lost, you know what I'm saying?
02:45Congrats to Rihanna, everything that's going on with her, congrats to them beautiful babies,
02:50congrats to her beautiful relationship, yeah.
02:52But you know, that's kind of how the business goes, it's one of those things where we don't
02:56have to talk every day, and then when we do see each other, we pick up right where we
03:00left off at.
03:01I mean, that's life, that's with everybody, you get a little older, you don't lose contact,
03:05but you just space it out, but when you get back, say, in the studio or the room, whatever,
03:09back on the phone, it's all the same.
03:11If it was ever real, it stays real, yeah.
03:13Well, I was asking because she has her new project coming out, I was wondering if you
03:16were working on that, because everyone's anticipating that, because she said she was going to drop
03:19it in 24.
03:20I definitely went in and did some stuff with a few producers, me and London on the Track
03:25just recently worked together on some stuff for Rihanna.
03:29I can't say what made the project, because this particular Rihanna project has been like
03:34nine years in the making, so I don't know what she kept, I don't know, but I guess we'll
03:39see what happens.
03:40Right, she's got her Fenty Beauty line, she's doing all kinds of stuff.
03:43Yeah, she was clearly a little busy, a little too busy to put music out, but I'm actually
03:47happy that she's getting back into it, and I'm anxious to see what she held on to.
03:51Right on, sorry, I didn't mean to make this about Rihanna, but you're talking about all
03:55these records, what's going to make the album, what's not, and I've heard of other artists,
04:00some artists have like 80,000 songs in the bank, do you have a vault?
04:04How many songs do you have in the vault right now?
04:06Absolutely, I couldn't even tell you how many songs is in the vault.
04:09So I go in the studio on my own, if there's no artist to write for and I just got some
04:15free time, you'll find me in the studio just creating, because I love the craft, I love
04:19the process, and everything don't work for everybody, but everything can be used for
04:24something, so if I did a batch of songs for this artist and they didn't take all of them,
04:29they took two of the nine that I did, those other ones go into the archive, but then it's
04:34also like there's a really dope bar in this song that so much didn't work in this song,
04:40but I can take that bar and put it on something else and it becomes the hook to this person's
04:43song or a verse on a feature on this song, so everything is used for something, so you
04:48don't throw nothing away.
04:49Right.
04:50Do you ever take it personal?
04:51I'm sure you don't, when they don't use your records, you're like, man, what's up?
04:54It is what it is.
04:55I mean, you know what, in the beginning, it used to kind of be like that, to be a songwriter,
05:00to be an artist, period, is to kind of be, what's the word I'm looking for?
05:04A little insecure, you know what I'm saying?
05:06It's like people liking your music, your whole livelihood is based off of whether or not
05:11people like your music, and artists hold their music very, very close to heart, so it's like
05:15to tell me you don't like my song, at one point, was almost to tell me you don't like
05:18me, and it's like, what the hell, what did I do to you?
05:20But now I realize that certain songs work for certain projects, certain songs don't,
05:25and it's not that the song is bad, it's just that that particular artist didn't understand
05:28it.
05:30For example, I wrote a song for one artist, and it didn't work for that one, but it worked
05:32for somebody else, you know what I mean?
05:33So you can't take it personal, you know, can't take it personal.
05:36Absolutely not.
05:37What's the process these days for you, versus back in the day, say you have an idea, you're
05:42out eating dinner with the family, and you're like, oh, got a song, got to get in the studio.
05:46How's the process of getting it put together, releasing it, if you do, or offering it to
05:51another artist?
05:52The process hasn't really changed much, there's really no wrong way to do it, as long as the
05:59destination is great song, put on a great artist, or put out yourself and done the right
06:05way.
06:06And it literally can happen that way.
06:08You sitting with my son eating cereal, watching Paw Patrol, and I just see a word, or something
06:15happens on the show, and I'm like, interesting, and I put it in my notes in my phone to go
06:20in the studio later on and put the song together.
06:22But yeah, there's really no wrong way, and the process has been the same process pretty
06:27much from the beginning.
06:30It can start with a word, it can start with a phrase, it can start with a situation.
06:33I like to have conversations with my sister.
06:35My sister is one of the funniest people on the face of the planet, man, she's so funny.
06:41As a matter of fact, Rihanna's Take a Bow happened based off a conversation that I had
06:46with my sister about a dude that she was in the process of breaking up with.
06:49What was his name?
06:50I can't tell you.
06:53She might want me to say his name, but no, the whole situation of the dude standing outside
06:58the house crying, and you look so dumb right now, that was all my sister.
07:02That was her.
07:03Yeah.
07:04You look stupid.
07:05Poor guy.
07:06You know he knows about him.
07:07Get out from in front of my apartment.
07:08You look dumb.
07:09Yeah, that was her.
07:10That was her.
07:11Looking all dumb out there.
07:12Kids watching Paw Patrol.
07:13How many times have you heard the Frozen soundtrack?
07:14Oh, Lord.
07:15Every parent.
07:16You know what?
07:17You're a parent here, you know what's up.
07:18It has different meaning now, because my little girl, she just turned two, and she kills that
07:26song.
07:28Let it go.
07:29Let it go.
07:30She is the epitome of sing like nobody's watching, because she, with the arms outstretched,
07:36standing on top of the couch, just going for it.
07:38It's exciting to me.
07:39I like that my kids are actually getting excited about music now, you know what I mean?
07:43That's dope.
07:44She's standing on the dining room table.
07:45You're like, get in the studio.
07:46What are we doing here?
07:47Oh, yeah.
07:48Absolutely.
07:49It's coming.
07:50I'm going to let it get a little bit older, you know what I'm saying?
07:51So I can do it the right way, but yeah, they're definitely getting in the studio.
07:54That's awesome.
07:55I have Moe and Carla about to interview after me with B96, but I was going to say, you've
08:00been to Chicago a bunch with B96, Summer Bash is back, I think the last time you were here
08:04was 2013 with B96.
08:07What do you love about Chicago?
08:08Total cliche question, but what do you love about Chicago, D.O.?
08:12Well, you're right.
08:13It has been quite a long time since I've been out here, but I can honestly say that the
08:17love I received from the first time I came out here to the love I received in the couple
08:21days that I've been here is exactly the same, man.
08:24This is a city full of love.
08:27I feel like Chicago sometimes gets a bad rap because of some of the negative things that
08:31may happen in some areas of the city, but for the most part, all I've ever received
08:34in the city is love.
08:35Love from the people, love from the stations, you know what I'm saying?
08:40That rings true today, so I love the fact that this is a city full of people that are
08:44full of love, man.
08:45I do.
08:46For real, in Chicago.
08:47Hey, you guys are down.
08:48All of Chicago.
08:49Yeah, man.
08:50I'm going to say I'm from Chicago.
08:51I'm from San Diego.
08:52I dig y'all, man.
08:53You know the media can twist a lot of stuff.
08:55Of course.
08:56We don't hear, though.
08:57We keep it real.
08:58Anyway, I'm going to go there, but ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to wrap it up.
09:02This is Ne-Yo right here, icon, legend.
09:04Check him out tonight.
09:05He's at the United Center with Mary J. Blige.
09:07Yeah, man.
09:08We on tour.
09:09We on tour.
09:10Come check us out.
09:11Mary J. Blige is the headliner.
09:12It's a For My Fans tour.
09:13It's Mario, myself, Mary J. Blige.
09:15This is one of them tours where you're literally going to sing every damn song.
09:18You're going to leave with less voice than you walk in the building with, trust me.
09:22Get there early because you want to catch Mario's set.
09:25One of the dopest voices in music, if I do say so myself, that dude can sing, man.
09:29Get there early so that you get the full experience.
09:31But yeah, man.
09:32We there tonight.
09:33Check it out.
09:34Check it out.
09:35That's what's up.
09:36Thank you so much for coming by.
09:37All love, man.
09:38You know you're always welcome to 104.3 Jams.
09:39I think I'm going to send you back, and then you'll come back out with ... We're going
09:41to change the set real quick.
09:42Copy that.
09:43Really appreciate you, man.
09:44All love, brother.