Raised solely by his mother, Ne-Yo was born Shaffer Chimere Smith on October 18, 1982 in Arkansas and later was taken to Las Vegas, Nevada where he began to develop his skills in writing songs. For some years, he kept standing behind the scene to compose great lyrics for R&B artists like Christina Milian, Faith Evans, and B2K, even helped launching Mario's career through his work on the younger guy's single, "Let Me Love You", in 2004. Actually, the desire of being a singer had also taken roots within his heart as he once signed a record deal with Columbia Records only to find his album project being disappointingly shelved for more than a year, prompting him to leave the company empty-handed.
In his effort to find another label, Ne-Yo managed to impress Tina Davis of Def Jam Records who immediately brought him to the Island Def Jam Music Group chairman, Antonio 'L.A.' Reid and within a short time, a recording contract was offered. Collaborated with Peedi Crakk, he then released debut single "Stay" in 2005 followed by another entitled "So Sick" in late January 2006. The former did quite well in Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart, but it was the latter one that truly catapulted the versatile artist to widespread popularity as it wonderfully topped three Billboard charts of Hot 100, Pop 100, and Hot Digital Songs.
Riding on the success of "So Sick", Ne-Yo confidently launched his studio album, "In My Own Words", on February 28, 2006 and quickly saw the satisfying result when it amazingly debuted on number one in The Billboard 200 with over 300,000 copies sold a week after its release. Also gained rave reviews from USA Today and People Magazine, this first effort subsequently became the biggest sales week for a rookie act since The Game made it on January 23 of the previous year, unquestionably creating a solid base for Ne-Yo in his singing career. The fantastic achievement inevitably led him to such a wide exposure, enabling the singer to proudly appear on some notable TV shows, like "The Tyra Banks Show" plus "Live with Regis & Kelly" in early March.
Not waiting so long, Ne-Yo was back in the studio in 2006 for sophomore effort which he tentatively titled "Outta This World". The name was later changed to "Know Me" as he wanted people to recognize his 'actual self'. However as the process flowing, he felt that the name wasn't right for this album that he decided to alter it again to "Because of You", the same title for his first single. "It makes the most sense," he said in a statement. "It's because of the people that inspire me to make music. Because of the love of the music. Because of the fans. Because of you, that I do what I do." The album was completed in early 2007 and released on May 1 whereby its arrival was greatly accepted. The album peaked at #1 in Billboard Hot 100, making it his second No. 1 record. Soon after that, he spread his wing by opening a studio named Carrington House that accommodated new artists to launch their career
