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Ne-Yo recalls Mario being “Sam Cooke reincarnated” on 20th anniversary of “Let Me Love You”

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Before Ne-Yo became a household name, the budding performer was working tirelessly as a songwriter behind the scenes, and his breakthrough came in the form of then-16-year-old singer Mario.

Released in October 2004, Ne-Yo wrote ā€œLet Me Love Youā€ for Marioā€™s sophomore album Turning Point ā€” the follow-up to his hit ā€œJust a Friend 2002ā€ ā€” and the smooth R&B track became an international hit.

It topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart for nine weeks and spent 11 weeks on top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. It earned Mario his first-ever Grammy nomination and helped the teen singer transition to a performer with an adult fanbase.

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But Ne-Yo admits, ā€œI remember when I wrote that song, I did not think Mario was going to be able to pull it off.ā€

ā€œMind you, I hadnā€™t met him yet,ā€ he adds. ā€œAll I knew was that he had just turned 16 and Iā€™m like, ā€˜This is kind of a mature song. Like, does this dude even know anything about love?ā€™ā€

But things changed once Mario arrived at the recording studio and got in the booth. ā€œWhen I met him, I realized that heā€™s just Sam Cooke reincarnated. I had to eat those words. He knocked that song out in an hour and the rest is history,ā€ he says. ā€œSo shout-out to Mario.ā€

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Aside from ā€œLet Me Love You,ā€ Ne-Yo has also written hits like BeyoncĆ©ā€™s ā€œIrreplaceable,ā€ Rihannaā€™s ā€œTake a Bowā€ and ā€œUnfaithful,ā€ and Jennifer Hudsonā€™s ā€œSpotlight.ā€

His songwriting success propelled him to the front of the stage with the 2006 release of his debut album, In My Own Words. And, ironically, Ne-Yo released his own song similarly titled to Marioā€™s ā€” ā€œLet Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)ā€ ā€” in 2012. It was co-written by Sia and became a Top 10 hit.

Ne-Yo says he and Mario will celebrate on the road this year.

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ā€œWe are actually going to be on tour in the U.K. come March, so looking forward to that,ā€ he says of his Champagne & Roses Tour. ā€œItā€™s a beautiful thing. Time is music.ā€

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Cecelia Chintoh
Cecelia Chintohhttp://ighanaian.com/journalist/cecelia
I'm Cecelia Chintoh, a Ghanaian blogger with many years of experience in the field of journalism. I'm an Editor at Ghanafuo.com, and currently the Lifestyle and Entertainment Editor at iGhanaian.com. I love to write about random stuff, but particularly about my lifestyle and opinions.
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