Music video: Ne-Yo gives us a throwback, with “Don’t Love Me”

Ne-Yo has a new song out. It’s been a while since I bothered to listen to anything of his, because his music started falling off for me years ago. His 2008 album Year of the Gentleman was where I tapped out. But I thought ‘What the hell’ and pressed play, and I’m glad that I did. This song right here is not only good, but a reminder of what made me like Ne-Yo in the first place. And if you’re also somebody who got into Ne-Yo during In My Own Words and then stopped caring for Ne-Yo not long after, then this might be a song for you.

I initially rolled my eyes when I heard the 808s, because I thought ‘Here we fucking go with this sound again’, but it stayed mellow and sat in that smooth but melancholic space that many of us liked with songs like “So Sick” and “Because of You”, with a guitar which is reminiscent of “Closer”.

I can’t say that this song has me anticipating Ne-Yo’s upcoming album though, because the singles he released in 2021 really weren’t that good. But it’s still nice to hear that he can deliver something good which hearkens back to a period in his career when he was delivering good music consistently.

And then there’s the subject matter, of telling somebody that you love not to love you, because you’ll only keep hurting them.

These types of songs always make me chuckle, because not once is there ever an apology. It’s never ‘I’m sorry for not being a better person and loving you the way that I should have, and how you deserve’. It's always ‘I’m a piece of shit, you deserve better. So maybe you should just try not loving me and just leave.’ No accountability.

This song also made me chuckle, because I’ve been on the receiving end of a scenario like this. I was told ‘Don’t like me anymore’. I said ‘Cool’ and went my separate way. Then years later they hit me up with ‘I was thinking about you’ and I left that WhatsApp message on two blue ticks with no reply.

HENNYWAY.

Ne-Yo’s 8th studio album Self-Explanatory has no release date at time of posting, but it’s bound to be releasing at some point this year.

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💿 Album reviews: Year of the Gentleman | My Kind of Christmas