Ne-Yo is an artist every R&B fan loved when he first came onto the scene with hits like ‘So Sick’, ‘Sexy Love’, ‘Mirror’….the list can go on. However, many people began to believe that Ne-Yo, like several other artists, had transformed into more of a pop star leaving behind his traditional r&b style, but Ne-Yo says this is not the case.

Not only did he say he will always stay true to R&B, but he went on to criticize the current state of the genre as a whole. In a recent interview with 105.1′s The Breakfast Club, Ne-Yo discusses what he thinks is missing in R&B, and his views on other artists like Frank Ocean and Trey Songz. 

What he thinks of current R&B music:

I feel like there’s an emotional disconnect in R&B right now.

What he thinks of Frank Ocean:

I dig Frank. I like the album. I feel like on some records, it’s a little too cool for the room, where its like “What the hell are you talking about?” But I dig the fact that when you listen to his records, you can tell that he means what he’s saying, even if you don’t know what the hell he’s saying, its like ‘he meant that. And i feel like that’s the emotional disconnect in R&B right now. It’s like okay you hear dudes singing about love, but you don’t believe them.

Even if you go back to the days of Jodeci. These were the thuggish, ruggish R&B singers period. They were walking around with jeans belted at their thighs with machetes talking about ‘Forever My Lady’ and you believed it. So I think that’s what’s missing in R&B right now. Everyone’s trying to be too cool. It’s too over-sexed right now. That’s why R&B is suffering.

What he thinks of Trey Songz as an artist:

I’ve talked to Trey before and Trey is one of them dudes, I feel like could be a serious problem in this R&B world, if he decided to just really put that emotion in there. No disrespect to Trey, love Trey to death. But I feel like, again, the emotional disconnect is there.

On abandoning R&B for Pop:

I can never abandon R&B. It’s where I came from. It’s the reason that I’m here in the first place. If you listen to my pop music versus all the other stuff out there, there’s still some soul in there. My voice is my voice. I can’t escape that. The soul in my voice comes from my R&B background and that’s always gonna be who I am. I’m an R&B artist first. I’m an R&B artist who was given the opportunity to move into a world where I can do pop music too… I feel like I’m in a good place.

On turning down the role of Martin Luther King Jr. 

It was more about the fact that, that’s a role for an actor actor. Acting is cool but that’s not my main passion. You can’t half ass Martin Luther King. They were trying to shoot at the same time the album was supposed to come out. That’s something that if you gonna do it, then you gotta give your 100 percent attention to that.

Who on earth offered Ne-Yo the role of MLK? And is it me or was there some subliminal shade being thrown at Frank and Trey? Maybe not. Ne-Yo needs to hurry up and release his new album so he can show us what “real R&B” is about.