Year of the Gentleman

Year of the Gentleman
Studio album by Ne-Yo
Released	September 11, 2008
Recorded	2007–08
Genre	R&B
Length	48:41
Label	Def Jam, Compound
Producer	Kirven Arrington, Polow Da Don, Chuck Harmony, Jay-Z (exec.), Adam Messinger, Ne-Yo (also exec.), Antonio "L.A." Reid (exec.), StarGate, Stereotypes, Syience, Shea Taylor, Shomari "Sho" Wilson, Butter Beats
Ne-Yo chronology
Because of You (2007) Year of the Gentleman (2008) Libra Scale (2010)
Singles from Year of the Gentleman
"Closer" Released: April 15, 2008 "Miss Independent" Released: September 2, 2008 "Mad" Released: November 17, 2008 "She Got Her Own" Released: December 14, 2008 "Part of the List" Released: April 7, 2009

Year of the Gentleman is the third studio album by American recording artist Ne-Yo, released September 16, 2008, on Def Jam Recordings in the United States.^[1] Ne-Yo worked with several record producers for the album, including Stargate, Chuck Harmony, Polow da Don, Stereotypes, and Reggie "Syience" Perry, among others.

The album was a commercial success as well, charting in the top-10 in several countries. It produced four singles, including international hits "Closer", "Miss Independent", and "Mad". Year of the Gentleman has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of one million copies in the United States. It has also been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry, for shipments of 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

Background

Year of the Gentleman was named in honor of Ne-Yo's artistic influences. Ne-Yo cited the 1960s American group Rat Pack, particularly members Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. as influences, whose style inspired his clothes and music.^[2][3] Explaining the album's title, he said he was "trying to take it back to where you couldn't walk out of the house unless you looked your best".^[4] Commenting on the likes of the Rat Pack and Nat King Cole he commented that "they're suited and everything is right from top to bottom. Not saying it has to be a suit, 'cause clothes don't make the man — it's the attitude and person. The music needs to personify that.".^[4] No featurings are present on the album, as previously announced, though "Single" also features as a version with New Kids on the Block on their album, The Block.

Although Ne-Yo has claimed that he wanted to "take a different direction" on the album by not making R&B sounds, however, according to Billboard magazine, "it seems he still has a heavy—yet welcome—case of the (rhythm and) blues on the finished product".^[5] The scene in the background for the cover was shot at the million mansion, known as Pink Palace, in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia.^[6]

Release and promotion

"Miss Independent" "Miss Independent" from Year of the Gentleman "She Got Her Own (Miss Independent Part 2)" The remix features Fabolous and Jamie Foxx. Problems playing these files? See media help.

The first single, "Closer", was released on April 15. The song debuted at number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart, and later reached number one. On Billboard's Hot 100, the song peaked at number seven, while it has reached number one on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.^[7] The second single was supposed to be "Stop This World", but was replaced by "Miss Independent", which was released on August 11.^[8] The physical release will be accompanied by a video which premiered on August 21 on Access Granted.^[9] Both of these songs are produced and co-written by Stargate. The album was re-released on December 3, 2008 in Japan, featuring the original Japanese bonus tracks, "What's The Matter" and "She Got Her Own" (featuring Fabolous & Jamie Foxx), as well as two remixes of "Closer" and an exclusive US iTunes track "In The Way" (tracklist on hmv.co.jp)

The third single is confirmed to be "Mad" and goes for adds on Urban/Rhythmic on October 14, 2008.^[10] A video has been made for song "She Got Her Own" and is the official international single. On May 21, 2008—months before the album's release—Ne-Yo performed the ballad "Stop This World" on the ABC soap opera All My Children. Appearing as himself, Ne-Yo sang the song during the lavish wedding ceremony of supercouple Jesse and Angie Hubbard.^[11] The fourth single is confirmed to be "Part of the List". The music video is shot in Prague on March 22.^[12] Director is TAJ of the Popular Kid. Video produced by Andrew Listermann of Riveting Entertainment.

Reception

Commercial performance

Year of the Gentleman debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 250,000 copies sold making his first album not to debut at number one on the chart.^[13] The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, giving Ne-Yo his highest-charting album in the UK, beating Because of You, which debuted at number six in 2007. In Japan, the album debuted at number one and has thus far sold over 200,000 copies and in the UK 100,000 copies in its first week.^[14][15] The album has since been certified platinum in the UK.^[16]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]
The A.V. Club	C+[18]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[19]
The Guardian	[20]
Los Angeles Times	[21]
PopMatters	[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]
Slant Magazine	[24]
USA Today	[25]
Vibe	[26][27]

The album received very positive reviews from music critics; it holds an aggregate score of 79/100 from Metacritic.^[27] Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone stated, "The 28-year-old singer-songwriter says his latest collection of heartfelt love songs is a tribute to the Rat Pack's pressed-suit style, but it's actually a superb concept album about what a great boyfriend he can be."^[23] Vibe's Brad Wete wrote that Ne-Yo "is a stronger, more confident man than the one many remember licking his wounds" on his previous work.^[26] Newsday writer Glenn Gamboa gave it an A- rating and wrote "for the bulk of the album, Ne-Yo has simply honed his hit-making skills, churning out one memorable melody after another, building an album that finally lives up to the potential he only hinted at on his first two releases, both lyrically and vocally."^[28] Amy Linden of The Village Voice said that the album "reconfigures 'grown and sexy' by detailing relationships with an often uneasy mix of heartache, reflection, wit, lust, and resignation."^[29]

However, Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson found it "musically uneven and ballad-heavy".^[24] Robert Christgau gave the album a rating of honorable mention (),^[30] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy".^[31]

The album was nominated for six Grammys Awards, including Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone ranked it number 33 on its list of the 50 Best albums of 2008.^[32]

Track listing

Standard version[33]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Closer"	Shaffer Smith, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Magnus Beite, Bernt Rune Stray	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	3:54
2.	"Nobody"	Smith, Rodney Jerkins	Kirven Arrington	3:07
3.	"Single"	Smith, Jamal Jones	Polow da Don, Ne-Yo^[a], Adam Messinger^[a]	4:18
4.	"Mad"	Smith, Hermansen, Eriksen	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	4:14
5.	"Miss Independent"	Smith, Hermansen, Eriksen	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	3:52
6.	"Why Does She Stay"	Smith, Jonathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, Micayle McKinney	Stereotypes	4:33
7.	"Fade into the Background"	Smith, Shomari Wilson	Shomari "Sho" Wilson	3:18
8.	"So You Can Cry"	Smith, Reggie Perry	Syience	4:18
9.	"Part of the List"	Smith, Charles Harmon	Chuck Harmony	4:09
10.	"Back to What You Know"	Smith, Hermansen, Eriksen, Beite, Stray	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	4:10
11.	"Lie to Me"	Smith, Shea Taylor	Shea Taylor	4:27
12.	"Stop This World"	Smith, Harmon	Chuck Harmony	4:24

iTunes version bonus track[34]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"She Got Her Own" (featuring Jamie Foxx and Fabolous)	Smith, David Debrandon Brown, John Jackson, Antonio Jimenez	Butter Beats	5:32

European version bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"What's the Matter"	Smith, Harmon	Chuck Harmony	3:46

Japanese version bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"What's the Matter"	Smith, Harmon	Chuck Harmony	3:46
14.	"She Got Her Own" (featuring Jamie Foxx and Fabolous)	Smith, David Debrandon Brown, John Jackson, Antonio Jimenez	Butter Beats	5:32

Japanese second version bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"What's the Matter"	Smith, Harmon	Chuck Harmony	3:46
14.	"She Got Her Own" (featuring Jamie Foxx and Fabolous)	Smith, David Debrandon Brown, John Jackson, Antonio Jimenez	Butter Beats	5:34
15.	"In the Way"	Smith, Jonathan "J.R." Rotem	Rotem	4:16
16.	"Closer" (Niteryders remix)	Smith, Hermansen, Eriksen, Beite, Stray	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	7:28
17.	"Closer" (Agent X Bassline remix)	Smith, Hermansen, Eriksen, Beite, Stray	StarGate, Ne-Yo^[a]	5:23

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• "She Got Her Own" contains portions of "My Baby Understands", as written and performed by Donna Summer.

Personnel

Credits for Year of a Gentleman adapted from Allmusic.^[35]

Davis A. Barnett – Viola Jesse Bond – Guitar Jay Brown – A&R Chavez – Audio Engineer Jeff Chestek – String Engineer Carol Corless – Package Production Ryan D – Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer Kevin "KD" Davis – Mixing Mikkel Storleer Eriksen – Engineer, Instrumentation, Various Larry Gold – Arranger, Conductor, String Arrangements, String Conductor Jaymz Hardy-Martin III – Engineer, Mixing, Vocal Mixing, Vocal Recording Chuck Harmony – Arranger, Audio Production, Producer, String Arrangements Reynell "Tango" Hay – A&R Tor Erik Hermanson – Instrumentation, Various Josh Houghkirk – Audio Engineer, Engineer, Mixing Assistant Nicole Jackson – A&R Terese Joseph – A&R Olga Konopelsky – Violin Emma Kummrow – Violin Alexandra Leem – Viola Jennie Lorenzo – Cello Rob Martin – Violin Micayle McKinney – Keyboards

Ne-Yo – Audio Production, Executive Producer, Producer, Vocals Charles Parker – Violin Polow da Don – Audio Production, Producer Herb Powers – Mastering Geno Regist – Engineer, Vocal Recording L.A. Reid – Executive Producer Montez Roberts – Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer J. Peter Robinson – Art Direction, Design John Stahl – Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer Chris Stanford – Photography Stargate – Audio Production The Stereotypes – Producer Bernt Rune – Stray Guitar Syience – Audio Production, Various Igor Szwec – Violin Phil Tan – Mixing Robert Taylor "R.T." – Guitar Shea Taylor – Audio Production, Drum Programming, Piano, Strings, Synthesizer Gregory Teperman – Violin Tony Terrebonne – Engineer Brandon Thomas – Guitar Shomari "Sho" Wilson – Audio Production, Instrumentation, Producer, Various

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[36]	7
Greek Albums Chart[36]	11
Austrian Albums Chart[36]	41
Belgium Albums Chart[36]	35
Canadian Albums Chart[37]	4
Dutch Albums Chart[36]	26
French Albums Chart[36]	24
German Albums Chart[36]	22
Irish Albums Chart[36]	13
Italian Albums Chart[36]	22
Japanese Oricon Album Chart[14]	15
New Zealand Albums Chart[36]	6
Swiss Albums Charts[36]	9
UK Albums Chart	2
US Billboard 200[13]	2
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[13]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[38]	Gold	40,000
Italy (FIMI)[39]	Gold	35,000
Japan (RIAJ)[40]	Platinum	250,000
Saudi Arabia[41]	Gold	3,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[42]	Gold	7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[43]	3× Platinum	900,000
United States (RIAA)[44]	2× Platinum	2,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Country	Date	Label
Asia	Japan[45]	September 11, 2008	Universal International
Europe	Germany[46]	September 12, 2008	Def Jam
	Italy[47]
	United Kingdom[48]	September 15, 2008	Mercury
Americas	United States[49]	September 16, 2008	Def Jam
	Brazil[50]	October 21, 2008	Universal Music

References

1. "Neyo: Year of the Gentleman". Def Jam. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
2. "Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman". Island Def Jam. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
3. Concepcion, Mariel (2008-03-27). "Ne-Yo's 'Gentleman' Inspired By Davis, Sinatra". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.). Retrieved 2008-03-28.
4. Reid, Shaheem (2008-03-18). "Ne-Yo, Hard At Work On Third LP, Makes Time For Lindsay Lohan 'Challenge'". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
5. Concepcion, Mariel (September 2008). "Year of the Gentleman: Ne-Yo". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
6. Tobin, Rachel (2008-10-24). "Pink Palace re-priced to sell". ajc.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
7. The Billboard Hot 100 - Closer - Ne-Yo Billboard. Accessed September 14, 2008.
8. New Ne-Yo Music - "Miss Independent" The album released September 1 in UK according to Amazon.co.uk and September 16 for the USA!
9. My "Miss Independent" Video Is Gonna Be Hot!
10. "FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Nielsen Ratings, Music News and more!". fmqb.com.
11. Lang, Derrik J. (2008-04-25). "Ne-Yo to appear on 'All My Children'". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
12. "Music Video News". Video Static. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
13. Katie Hasty (September 24, 2008). Metallica Edges Ne-Yo, Nelly To Remain No. 1 Billboard. Accessed September 24, 2008.
14. "オリコンランキング". ORICON STYLE.
16. "Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman", BPI, retrieved 2010-09-16
17. Kellman, Andy. "Year of the Gentleman - Ne-Yo". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
18. Rabin, Nathan (2008-09-29). "Ne-Yo: Year Of The Gentleman". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
19. Greenblatt, Leah (2008-09-19). "Year of the Gentleman Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
20. Macpherson, Alex (2008-09-11). "Urban review: Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman". The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
21. Wood, Mikael (2008-09-16). "Still obsessed, yet earnest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
22. Joseph, Mike (2008-11-04). "Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman". PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
23. Ganz, Caryn (2008-09-18). "Year of the Gentleman : Ne-Yo : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
24. Henderson, Eric (2008-09-19). "Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman". Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
25. Jones, Steve (2008-09-14). "Ne-Yo's 'Gentleman' shows growth as artist". USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
26. Wete, Brad (2008-09-17). "Ne-Yo: 'Year of the Gentleman'". Vibe. Archived from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
27. "Critic Reviews for Year Of The Gentleman". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
28. Gamboa, Glenn (2008-09-16). "Review: Ne-Yo, 'The Year of the Gentleman'". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
29. Linden, Amy (2008-09-17). "Ne-Yo's Fantastic R&B Finds Strength in Vulnerability". The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-11-19.
30. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Ne-Yo". MSN Music: January 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-11-19.
31. Christgau, Robert. "CG 90s: Key to Icons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.
32. "Music News". Rolling Stone.
33. "Amazon.com: Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman: Music". amazon.com.
34. "iTunes - Music - Year of the Gentleman (Bonus Track Version) by Ne-Yo". iTunes.
35. Year of the Gentleman - Ne-Yo | AllMusic: Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-05-04.
36. Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman - Music Charts αCharts. Accessed September 25, 2008.
37. "CANOE -- JAM! Music - SoundScan Charts". canoe.ca.
38. http://musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?sa=Ne-Yo
39. "Italian album certifications – Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Ne-Yo in the field Filtra. Select 2012 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
40. "Japanese album certifications – Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2012年月 on the drop-down menu
41. https://web.archive.org/web/20131021203829/http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/mid_east_2010.html
42. http://web.archive.org/web/20110724195817/http://www.radioscope.net.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=62
43. "British album certifications – Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Year of the Gentleman in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
44. "American album certifications – Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
45. "Ne-Yo:Year of the Gentleman". universal-music.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-08-13.
46. Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman - CD
47. Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman - disco di Ne-Yo
48. "HMV - Music, Films, & Games - HMV.com". HMV.com - home of entertainment.
49. "Amazon.com: Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman: Music". amazon.com.
50. "Year of the Gentleman - Brazilian Edition - Saraiva.com.br". Livrariasaraiva.com.br. Retrieved 2011-02-20.

External links

• Year of the Gentleman at Discogs
• Year of the Gentleman at Metacritic
• Ne-Yo in His Own Words — Blues & Soul