For the past 10-20 years, each new crop of R&B stars—everyone from Usher to Justin Timberlake—has been accused of being a “fake” Michael Jackson.
But according to an MTV report, the Moonwalker himself has given Ne-Yo his personal stamp of approval.
Ne-Yo’s upcoming album, The Year of the Gentleman, has an MJ tribute entitled “Nobody.” The song is the follow-up to his current single, “Closer.”
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“Anybody who has been following Ne-Yo from the start knows that I’m a huge, huge Michael Jackson fan,” he explained. “And love is one of the few things on the face of this planet that will never go out of style.”
“Closer” is about a hook-up between strangers on the dance floor, but “Nobody” presents different circumstances.
“Say she didn’t give you anything, but instead she just started dancing, and it was the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen,”Ne-Yo said. “It’s like she’s untouchable, like it would be a sin to touch her or dance with her, with what’s going on with her right now.”
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Ne-Yo is currently working with Michael Jackson, so he played his tribute for him. Jackson’s reaction to the song gave the singer/songwriter a surprising response.
“He told me that he likes the way I do Michael Jackson,”Ne-Yo remembered. “…He said, ‘When you do that, it doesn’t feel like you’re trying to copy me or trying to be me. It feels like you’re complimenting me.’ And that’s what I’m doing. It means the world that he liked it.”
The report also previews other songs from the album, which is set for an August release.
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