#ThrowbackThursday: “So Sick” by Ne-Yo
“So Sick” was the second single from Ne-Yo’s 2006 debut solo album In My Own Words. by Sean Smith
R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo released his sixth studio album Non-Fiction this week. The new album has already spawned three singles to date. The first single “Money Can’t Buy” featuring rapper Jeezy was released in May of last year, although it failed to break into the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up single “She Knows” featuring Juicy J was released this past September, and has been the most successful single off of the new album so far, topping out at the fiftieth spot on the Hot 100 chart. Last week the third single from Non-Fiction, “Coming With You”, was officially released. Though it hasn’t yet impacted U.S. charts, it has already broken into the Japanese Hot 100 charts.
While Ne-Yo has been heralded for his singing abilities for the past decade, he first got his big break in the business due to his songwriting abilities. While he has penned songs for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Musiq, and Faith Evans in the past, his first big break came when he wrote a song for R&B singer Mario in 2004. That song, “Let Me Love You”, earned Ne-Yo not only writing credits on a #1 Billboard Hot 100 single, but also an opportunity for him to flourish as a recording artist in his own right. It was due in large part to his songwriting success of “Let Me Love You” that prompted Def Jam to sign him to a recording contract. And this week on #tbt, we remember a song from his debut solo album on Def Jam, “So Sick”.
Ne-Yo’s debut album In My Own Words was released by Def Jam in February of 2006. The first single from was a song called “Stay”, which was received with only moderate commercial success, peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was the second single from In My Own Words, “So Sick”, that would serve as the singer’s breakthrough single. It not only performed well on the urban music charts, peaking at the #3 spot on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, but it also crossed over into the pop charts topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well. The inspiration behind Ne-Yo’s writing of “So Sick” reportedly lies in the personal life of the singer. The story goes that Ne-Yo cheated on a girlfriend of his and so the two went their separate ways. After the break-up, Ne-Yo supposedly kept hearing a love song that was a favorite of his ex’s on the radio all too often. The end result being the penning of Ne-Yo’s first top charting single in his own recording career.
So in light of Ne-Yo’s new album Non-Fiction being released earlier this week, today we remember his 2006 breakthrough single “So Sick”. Enjoy!
Ne-Yo
“So Sick”
From: In My Own Words
Def Jam Records
