[Review] Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)

"Beautiful Monster" hitmaker Ne-Yo is back on the scene with a recycled R&B/dance jam called "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)," which I shall shorten to "Let Me Love You" for the purposes of this post.  It's the first single from the singer/songwriter's upcoming fifth album (his first with Motown Records), R.E.D. ("Realizing Every Dream") due out before the end of the year.

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Ones to Watch: Conor Maynard

PHOTO CREDIT: Brooke Nipar

19 year old singer/songwriter Conor Maynard might just be Britain's answer to Justin Bieber.  While I don't think Bieber has to worry about this talented young newbie stealing his thunder, or more specifically pilfering his fans - musically speaking, Maynard fits snugly in that same urban pop genre where "The Biebs" currently reigns supreme.  Personally, I think they are different ENOUGH artists that Maynard should have no trouble breaking through. What do you think?

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Hot Video Alert: John Legend featuring Ludacris - Tonight (Best You Ever Had)

Sometimes, all it takes for a music video to hook me is a toned body.  In the case of John Legend's video for his Ludacris-assisted "Tonight (Best You Ever Had)", John Legend's toned body was a bonus. While the song starts out slow and steady, it wasn't long before the sexy beat came in and I was sold. Let me emphasize that it was absolutely the beat that sucked me in and not John Legend sitting on the bed shirtless, singing into the camera. No - it was definitely the beat. I swear to God.

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Hot Video Alert: Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster

Singer/songwriter Ne-Yo is BACK with a song that sounds...well...like all of his other songs.  "Beautiful Monster" is a nice little R&B-dance-pop concoction that works in the same way previous efforts like "Closer" and "Because of You" worked. All of the above are up-tempo, club-friendly Top 40 tracks with the same general vibe. Ne-Yo knows what works, and seeing how busy he's been lately as a songwriter, it's evident that other industry contemporaries recognize his talent.  So far the Stargate-produced number is sitting at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, #28 on the Mainstream Top 40 Chart and #88 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. It seems doing be doing very well in Korea, where it's #3 on the International Singles Chart there.  "Beautiful Monster" impacted both mainstream and rhtymic airplay on June 8th, the same day it was digitally released.

The video for "Beautiful Monster" has a sort of a Michael Jackson/"Thriller" vibe going on with Ne-Yo taking on the role of Jackson's character.  It's an epic battle of good vs. evil...on the dancefloor, with Ne-Yo being the good and the dancers being the evil, complete with little glowing, pupil-less eye balls. Very eerie...much like the cover art.  The song is slick, much like Ne-Yo himself.  I can dig it. "Closer" and "Because Of You" delivered a pretty SICK remix package so here's hoping "Beautiful Monster" receives the same club love.  The song is the first single off of Ne-Yo's upcoming fourth studio album, Libra Scale, due in September. 

Check out Ne-Yo on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//VEVO

In The Spotlight: Jennifer Hudson

So...has anyone else heard Jennifer Hudson's new single, "Spotlight,"off her debut, self-titled album out September 30th? I have to be honest--initially the song bored me to tears. "COME ON J-Hud! Release a serious CLUB-JAMMER as your first single! Show us something different. "Spotlight" is a mid-tempo, sweet song that is growing on my listen after listen. Now I can officially say that I love it! The chorus...with J-Hud's sweet little "Whoo-ooh's" throughout is a fun little song about a boy. We'll see if it really takes off (it was released on iTunes today, June 10th). "Spotlight" was written by Ne-Yo, who also co-produced along with hitmaker production team, Stargate. A video will be shot for the single.