What can we expect from your new album 'Year of the Gentleman'?
It's gonna be a little different from my other two albums. The urban scene was getting a little repetitive to me so I decided to venture out and dabble in a few other genres of music. Basically what I did was I took bits and pieces of these other genres and incorporated them into the music I do already. There's definitely some stuff on there for the core Ne-Yo fan, but there's also gonna be some stuff on there that's experimental, some stuff that you may not be used to hearing from me.
'Gentleman' is quite an old fashioned concept...
That's very true and it's actually kind of sad, because the essence of the gentleman is the ideal man, in my personal opinion. That the phrase 'gentleman' is old and passé, and that chivalry is dead... it's like men don't want to be the ideal man anymore.
What are the qualities of the ideal man in 2008?
I don't see very much of the ideal man in 2008, to be honest with you. There's a few. Jay-Z definitely holds the traits of a gentleman. The cool thing about Jay-Z is that he has the power to play both sides of the fence. He can go to the hood and give you what you need there and he can also go to the boardroom, Wall Street, and give you what you need there. Kanye West is the ideal model for the way a gentleman should dress. You don't necessarily have to wear a three piece suit all the time to be a gentleman. You can be a gentleman in jeans and a t-shirt. But the essence of a gentleman is knowing what to wear and when to wear it. And you must always be clean and kept.
So is this concept anti-thug?
To a degree. Jay-Z definitely knows how to appeal to the thug but he also knows how to appeal to the broker or the Californian surfer. He can be something for everybody. So it's not so much the anti-thug; it's being renaissance.
Finally, we hear you've been ordered to attend defensive driving class? Has it taught you anything?
Ha, I haven't taken the class yet. I've got a full month to do when I get back to Atlanta. I hope it teaches me something because I suck behind the wheel. God blessed me with many talents but driving just wasn't one of them. I have a little bit of ADD, I'll be paying attention to one thing and something else will completely take my attention away from the road. It happens!
