Ne-yo premiered his new music video today for latest single ‘Never Knew I Needed’. The track is lifted from the Disney’s ‘The Princess & The Frog’ soundtrack. The track was shipped to radio on October 14th and the soundtrack will hit stores on Nov 23rd. Watch the Melina-directed video below:

I love the song, but the video was quite dim, despite the video director being Melina. Maybe they should have featured animated clips from the movie to drum up a little interest or something.

‘The Princess and the Frog’ is due in theatres on December 11th.

A brand new Ne-yo song has just surfaced called ‘Never Knew I Needed’, which is believed to be from original motion picture soundtrack for Disney’s feature animated film, The Princess & the Frog. The movie will feature Disney’s first African American princess. It will open in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on November 25th before it recieves a wider release on Dec 11th. Listen to the Stargate-produced track below:

I would not call myself a big Ne-yo but a few of his songs really stand out and fortunately, this is one of those tracks. The midtempo number sounds really good and I totally enjoyed this just from the very first listen. It has a very nice drum pattern and his polished vocals wrap nicely around the piano and synth production. Nice. Rating: 3.5/5

A new song to surface this week is ‘Goodnight, Good Morning’, performed by R&B songstress Brandy with Ne-yo as the guest feature. The track is also produced by Stargate and is a confirmed track for X Factor winner Alexandra Burke’s new album ‘Overcome’. Listen to the track below:

The song has a very drum and bass feel to it and consists of some electronic snares in the chorus. It’s good. Probably one of the best leaks to come from Alexandra’s new album so far. I’ve been disappointed with what I’ve heard previously. I’m not anticipating her new album (and that is based on the lead single and past leaks) but I’ll definetely give it a listen. The unthinkable might just happen to a point where she may shock me. Rating: 3/5

Ne-yo appeared on the ‘Today’ show yesterday morning (Aug 11th) where the host unknowingly knocked down Keri Hilson. She said to him “You have this really hot new video that you do with Kanye West and another woman named Keri. You [and Kanye] are such big stars. How did this happen?” Um, wow. Keri cannot even get acknowledged correctly in her OWN music video, which is NOT a Kanye OR a Ne-yo vid. It’s as good as saying “Keri WHO”?

I wouldn’t call myself a dedicated Keri fan. However, as much as she may NOT be on Beyonce’s level of fame, she has achieved so much as an established songwriter. She has spread her pen to almost every R&B star in the US including big name pop acts like Britney Spears, Chris Brown, Jennifer Lopez and many others. As a result of such massive achievements, she deserves her dues. Learn to recognise!

This week (July 21st), Rihanna was spotted clubbing it up at Vendome Nightclub in London. The singer partied with mentor Jay-Z during the early hours as he stayed ordering countless bottles of Dom Pérignon champagne and vodka for both their respective entourages. Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce who is currently on her North American tour, was nowhere in sight:

Yikes. What’s up with the biker spandex shorts? At the club? Well, being a fashionista requires you to not only have hits but some misses too. And I changed my mind about the hair. I’m not really feeling it anymore. I know she tried to be different by shaving off the back and both sides as opposed to the one side cut like everybody else. But it looks a mess now. It’s not even styled neatly. Her old cut was way better. Even during her court appearance, her hair looked really cute. As to not turn this post into a complete fashion feature, there is some music stuff to report on. Rihanna also has a guest spot on Jay-Z’s new single ‘Run This Town’ alongside Kanye West. Also, Ne-yo is writing for her new album and although he is well notorious for writing songs from a hurting woman’s perspective, he says he won’t be addressing the [Chris Brown] matter. “I’ve done some stuff for Rihanna’s [project]“, he told MTV News. “I didn’t really want to go there too much, because I know that’s what everybody is expecting”. Read more after the jump…

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Last night (July 16th), Ne-yo burst into tears during his UK concert in Manchester. The singer/songwriter failed to carry on with his show and walked off stage. Check it all out in the clip below:

“I’ve never not completed a show. I’ve never done this before. I want to thank y’all for bearing with me as long as y’all did. I appreciate that. Trust me when I say, I will be back. I love ya’ll”. His tearful outburst had come after he did a couple of Michael Jackson tributes but I doubt that had anything to do with it since he was fine at his other UK gigs. Apparently, he told the audience that he was feeling unwell and couldn’t carry on as a result.

A new track by Ne-Yo has surfaced on the net not too long ago. The Syience-produced track is called ‘Nothing New’ and you can check it out below.

ASCAP’s 22nd Annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards took place on June 26th at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Many of R&B’s young stars hit up the event and paid tribute to King of Pop Michael Jackson who died the day before:

One of those young R&B stars was singer Steph Jones who paraded around his Michael Jackson doll. Proceed after the jump to read more scoop and to see more pics of PCD’s Melody Thornton, Alicia Keys, Ne-yo, Christina Milian and fiance The Dream.

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Listen to a new Brandy track titled ‘Too Little, Too Late’ from the recording sessions of her forthcoming 6th studio album, which is scheduled to drop later this year. Stargate produced it and it’s a full on collaboration with singer/songwriter Ne-yo. Listen to it below:

I think their vocals mesh well over the laidback production, which is safe but still a nice mellowed out track. I like the lyrics. I’m thinking Ne-yo penned it because, if not all, most of the songs he is featured on, he wrote them. Plus, anything to do with Stargate, Ne-yo isn’t too far behind. Stargate are in fact confirmed producers for the new album and this is like a taster as to what we should expect.

Brandy and Ne-yo collaborate on a brand new buzz track titled Decisions. The newly leaked joint is produced by Stargate and is rumored to appear on Brandy’s forthcoming 6th studio album. The song was originally a bonus Ne-yo recorded last year for his latest album ‘Year of the Gentleman’. It surfaced online earlier this year and was accurately reported to be a demo for Brandy. Take a listen to the midtempo track below:

The song’s arrangement is sick with its brassy synths and electrically-charged guitar riffs. Her rich vocal chords also brings the song to light as well. It just makes me so excited for Brandy’s new album, and so far, we know she’s been in the studio with Stargate. It’s good to know Stargate can switch it up from time to time instead of using the same old overplayed ‘Irreplaceable’ template with the acoustic instruments and sparse handclaps. It doesn’t even sound like a Stargate joint which is probably why I appreciate it so much more. This is definetely promising for the current state of R&B right now especially since R&B music has been lacking lately. I hope Brandy brings it back with the new album and this so far is a positive direction.

Ne-yo was spotted dancing at a Prague nightclub with his alleged new girlfriend in the Czech Republic. The singer-songwriter is currently staying in Prague to film his new movie Red Tails which is being produced by George Lucas.

The movie is based around Tuskegee Airmen, the first set of black pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II. Has Ne-yo EVER had an official girlfriend since making his mark on the scene? Hmmmm. Anyway, whoever she is, she’s cute. I think she looks a lot like a young Faith Evans.

Ne-yo premiered his fifth music video ‘Part Of The List’ from latest album ‘Year Of The Gentleman’. Will these singles ever stop coming? Still, Year Of The Gentleman wasn’t a bad album so I can’t really blame him for wanting to plug the hell out of it. Ne-yo shot the video in Prague where he has been currently working on a new movie. Check out the TAJ-directed clip below:

The video was nice and the dialogue was interesting. The pretty young woman that plays his love interest looks a lot like Jessica Szohr from Gossip Girls. Her acting was horribly wooden in this clip, and she was obviously chosen just for “eye candy” purposes. She really needs to stick to modelling or whatever it is that she does professionally. As for the song, it doesn’t seem like the type of joint he’d release at this time of year. Do we really need to hear yet ANOTHER ballad from him?