Ne-Yo aka Shaffer C. Smith

Ne-Yo. (A producer friend named him after a character in the Matrix.) I met him on December 7, 2005 at the Escape Ultra Lounge. He is a cool kid. I think this mostly because when we were introduced he shook my hand with both of his and I liked how he kissed my hand. It was so polite. He opened for Trey Songz, but at the end of the night, I was much more intrigued by him. How'd he learn how to write? How'd he get into all of this? The kid's only 22.

At the show, I liked watching all the girls drool all over him. His life is interesting to me right now (as with most r&b and hip hop stars). I wonder what it's like to have so many girls crowd around you just so that they can get a picture...and if he'd prefer, much more. And Trey Songz...he knows how to flash that smile at all the girlz. The game....

Ne-Yo, he just stood in close proximity to me for a while and watched Trey Songz perform. He had such a quiet demeanor. And carried himself in a way that made you always wonder what he was thinking and how he was going to incorporate it into a song. Maybe it's because he has such serious eyes...it's calming.

Trey Songz on the other hand...seems like a ball of energy. My first thought when I saw him on stage was , "Dude, I can take this guy!"...he is so skinny...and then when he took off his shirt I realized...yeah...he's got muscle definition and as much as I'd like to think that I could beat his a** down in arm wrestling...it ain't gonna happen. It was weird, I was rather disappointed with that epiphany.

And Ne-Yo he has a website: http://www.iam-neyo.com/. I was only able to find two other good articles about him...and they say some pretty good things about him - calling him a "master in the art of storytelling" and the praise includes his "vivid imagination and creative energy". His style of music is defined as "infusing pop melodies to rich, soulful production" which "reveals his voice to be clean and almost elated, but rich". As for his character, they say he's charismatic...and based on my short encounter with the fella, I'd have to agree.

What a cutie...I wish we were friends. We'd be porch friends. I imagine we'd have popsicles together in the summer and we wouldn't talk much. But he'd say cool little insightful things and I'd be drawn in. And I'm sure I'd show him some cool magazine clippings that I found interesting...and he'd make impressed facial expressions, widen his eyes and say, "cool."..and that'd be that...after our lazy afternoon together he'd bid me a good evening and go back to have dinner with his family...for that's exactly what a polite boy like him would do. Easy care-free hanging out. We all need porch friends and Ne-Yo...in my mind...he'd make a good one.

And all of this babble...that's what being starstruck is all about...for it's so nice to imagine things to be absolutely perfect. Because like any track on his album - each song only has to capture a moment - and perfection...it's easy for 3:43 minutes, right?