Ne-Yo may be putting the finishing touches on his eighth studio album, the March-due ‘Self Explanatory,’ but ahead of its release longtime fans of the singer-songwriter can expect to hear his unmistakable voice aboard another highly anticipated R&B project: Aaliyah‘s first posthumous studio album.
Titled ‘Unstoppable,’ the LP – due on digital shelves later this month – features a studded list of guest stars including Ne-Yo (born Shaffer Smith) as well as Drake, The Weeknd, Chris Brown, Future, and more.
Taking to press recently, Smith gushed when quizzed about his contribution to the long-awaited effort. Look inside to see what he said.
While hot on the promo trail for his role as host of the recently-aired 2022 Urban One Honors, Ne-Yo talked about working on Aaliyah’s new album.
“I know that it’s an honor for my voice to be next to hers on a record,” he said. “That feels good, and I anticipate the album being really, really good. I’ve heard some of the names that are attached to it. I feel like it should be really, really good [and] another way for us to honor her way, way too early passing.”
Though fans have already gotten a taste of its content via its Weeknd-assisted lead single ‘Poison’ (as reported here), Smith was sure not to give too many details, however.
“I can say that the album itself has been in the works for a long time because I remember recording the song that’s gonna be on the album. And it wasn’t last week, it wasn’t last year, it was a little while back when we recorded the record,” he revealed. “And I don’t know what red tape [they] ran into, whatever the case may be, but I know that it was like, alright full throttle, and they pulled back for a long time and then all of a sudden, ‘Hey, the album’s coming out.’ So I don’t know much about the ins and outs.”
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His dish on Aaliyah news came shortly before he spoke exclusively with That Grape Juice about his new album, ‘Self Explanatory.’
Press PLAY on the video below to hear what he told us.