(t5!) Heroes Of The Zeroes Singles: #28: Ne-Yo - Closer (2008)

I never understood Ne-Yo’s longevity during the zeroes. Everyone seems to love Ne-Yo. He’s the rockist’s answer to R&B: authentic, writes his own songs, respects tradition. He even titled his debut album, In My Own Words, to take advantage of the fact that people like musicians with songwriting prowess. Without question, he broke into the scene with a pretty outstanding song “So Sick”. In spite of that, doesn’t anyone realize that every subsequent single kind of just spun off that first hit? Sure you can argue that all of his singles were “good”, but how many more “Human Nature” sounding melodies can we expect from him before everyone finally screams, “Enough is enough”? I, personally, have had enough Ne-Yo, especially when other R&B songwriters reveal that they can be more adventurous than him.

As far as I’m concerned, the best musical experience is the unexpected one and Ne-Yo, in 2008, finally released a song that had the ability to sweep the rug from under us. I remember just sitting at work while listening to the Top 40 radio, and I heard this astonishing trance-y dance joint. Then the vocals hit and even though I recognized Ne-Yo’s syrupy tenor, I didn’t actually put two and two together because I never in a million years thought Ne-Yo was capable of writing an electronic marvel like this. Then the DJ confirms it: “you just heard the new single from Ne-Yo called ‘Closer’.” I felt compelled to whisper a little “holy shit” to myself before the moment had passed.

The accompanying production technically isn’t cutting-edge if you compare it to the whole electronic genre, but considering this was one of the first instances, since the King of Pop did it back in the 80’s, when R&B and electronica clashed into a super-genre, it’s a pretty huge deal. Part of the beauty of hip=hop is how worldwide it can be; it explodes beyond national boundaries, like genres for instance. It already has mixed itself with jazz, rock, latin music, reggae, and now, during the latter part of the zeroes, it’s having fun blending itself with electronica. I don’t have the encyclopedia to trace it all the way back to who did it first (Kanye West’s mash up with Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger” to form “Stronger” is the first milestone I can think of), but “Closer” seem to be a significant piece in legitimizing the hip-hop/electronica unification. Singles in the world of R&B followed its footprints, like Chris Brown’s “Forever”, Akon’s “Right Now (Na Na Na)”, Rihanna’s “Disturbia”, and such. Even the hip-hop dancers have made room to adapt the way people dance to house music. Even if “Closer” is not the trailblazer for it all, for what it’s worth, it’s 4/4 thump and dazzling synths combined with the honeyed R&B vocals just sounded astoundingly refreshing at the time.

Of course, it wouldn’t be such a pioneer if “Closer” is a crap song. I’m not trying to dispute Ne-Yo’s songwriting skills today; it’s just that he’s got one sound. The reason why the track is so remarkable is because his incredibly detailed lyrical technique is finally paired with something different: the way he sings the line “turn the lights off in this place/and she shines just like a star” when the kick drum thump is put on mute and all that’s left is the twinkling appregiated guitars; the way each word in the chorus, along with the synths, zooms like jets towards our ears; the way the “I just can’t stop” line hooks up with the propulsive bridge. I don’t know if all is coincidental or not, but we’ve seen intricate choices of words from him in past songs; he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

“Closer” would’ve been a beneficial direction for Ne-Yo’s career. Sadly, he went back to cranking out tepid love songs and saccharine R&B grooves. Even in its parent album, Year Of The Gentleman, “Closer” stuck out like a sore thumb. But the other singles from it were still a success: “Miss Independent”, “Single”, “Mad”; I guess he understood his demographic because his Kool-Aid drinkers drink this unoriginal stuff like the Kool-Aid man himself is serving it. Maybe “Closer” is just a sneak peak to what’s upcoming and, if so, the tens would be an exciting time for Ne-Yo.