American R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo took over BET's "106 & Park" on Wednesday evening, premiered the dual story-driven videos, "Beautiful Monster" and "Champagne Life." The first time that "106 & Park" has ever hosted a double video premiere of such lengthy clips. 3-time Grammy Award-winning superstar's movie career over the past five years has had a profound effect on his work as a composer revealed in the cinematic story-line of his upcoming fourth album, "Libra Scale," dropping on September 21 and would form part of a larger overall visual narrative.Ne-Yo collaborates once again with producers Stargate for "Beautiful Monster," the first single from new album, is an uptempo dance song, containing new rave, Eurodisco, Europop, and Ibiza influences, featuring Ne-Yo's R&B vocals over "strobing dancefloor beats." After a sizzling performance of "Beautiful Monster" on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance on July 1, Ne-Yo traveled to London to preview tracks at the swanky Hospital venue one week later. Tastemakers had a chance to sample the album's narrative, threading through each of the songs, as explained by Ne-Yo, who takes on superhero powers in two new clips.
The R&B gentleman gets a taste of the good life in the video for "Champagne Life," but the story takes a dangerous turn in "Beautiful Monster." "'Beautiful Monster' is one piece of a very long and intricate story," Ne-Yo revealed. "When you see the first video, make sure that you're paying attention because all of the videos tell a story. So pay attention — you don't want to miss nothing." In "Beautiful Monster," Ne-Yo is portrayed as a disheveled superhero, à la Will Smith in "Hancock," who must battle his former flame Princess Sinclair in order to save the world from danger. Fans later learn in the "Champagne Life" video that Ne-Yo's superhero and Sinclair were once romantically involved. As a result, she assumed some of Ne-Yo's powers, but in adverse fashion. The transfer turned Sinclair into Diamond Eye, a "crazy, psycho mass-murderer," as Short's character describes her.
Ne-Yo began his career as a songwriter writing for boyband Youngstown and Mario. The track he wrote for Mario, "Let Me Love You", was a huge success and spent two months at the top of the Billboard chart. He has subsequently written tracks for a host of performers, including Whitney Houston and Britney Spears. His own releases have done as well, his debut album "In My Own Words" went straight to No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 and was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at The Grammys, while the follow-up "Because Of You" sold over one million copies and has also received award nominations.
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