Member Since: 12/15/2011
Posts: 9,940
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Feminist Ne-Yo talks his feminine side and a woman's worth
Quote:
Would the woman you talk about in “She Knows,” who is a mix of ratchet and classy and knows how to back it up and drop it down, get along with the woman in your song “Miss Independent,” who works like a boss and plays like a boss, not to mention walks like a boss and talks like a boss?
Absolutely. They are one in the same. A woman with that kind of confidence also has the drive to do it herself and the knowledge of self to know that this is a world where there are very few things that are given to you. You have to go out and get it. And the whole concept of ‘damsel in distress’ is passé; you can’t really be that anymore. Now it’s about, ‘Okay, I need it and nobody’s going to give it to me.’ Or, ‘I want it, but nobody’s going to give it to me. So I’m going to go out and get it myself.’ And in order to do that there has to be a confidence about yourself to believe that you are powerful enough to go and get it. So yeah, all those women are at the same party.
You’ve written hits song for women like Beyoncé, Celine Dion and Jennifer Hudson. When writing for a female star, do you need to tap into your feminine side?
Maybe not so much a feminine side as a side of myself that is not afraid of or ashamed of emotion. You know, that’s kind of how I was raised anyway. I was raised in a house full of women. And you know, my mom’s favorite thing to say to me was, ‘If it hurts, cry. If it feels good, smile. Never be ashamed to do either one.’ She would say it all the time. Growing up in that house you learn that emotion is not a weakness, it’s a strength if anything. It’s not something to be ashamed of. You know, most guys are raised on this, ‘You’re the breadwinner, you’re the head of the household so you have to be tough.’ Yeah, you have to be tough, but you also can’t be a one trick pony. The person who takes all that other emotion and bottles it up and puts it down, eventually that bottle’s going to explode and I feel bad for anybody who’s in the wake of that. You have to embody all of these emotions. You have to not be afraid to cry. You have to not be ashamed to say, ‘I’m scared,’ if that’s the case. That’s the house that I was raised in.
You have a daughter, is there something that you’d like her to know?
Above anything, she needs to know her worth. I feel like that is a problem with a lot of women nowadays, a lot of women just don’t realize their worth, just don’t understand how valuable they are. And you know, it’s not completely their fault. As human beings we know what we’re taught, so I just want to make sure that she understands to the point where if nobody thinks so, you know so. If nobody thinks that you’re pretty, you know that you’re pretty. Whatever the case may be, you know it. Like I need that to be embedded in her, instilled in her in every way, shape, form or fashion.
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http://radio.com/2014/09/18/ne-yo-sh...ted-questions/
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and things of the like
