Ne-Yo In The 'Know' On Sophomore Album

[Damien J.]

With his Def Jam debut, "In My Own Words," having topped The Billboard 200 and sold 1.4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, 2006 was a very good year for R&B newcomer Ne-Yo. Now, the singer/songwriter is jumping right back into the mix with a new album, "Know Me," due April 24.

Though "Know Me" boasts contributions from producers such as Stargate, Heavy Weights, Nephew (responsible for the first single off the debut, "Stay") and Big D and Ish, Ne-Yo regretfully admits he didn't get to work with one specific musical mastermind. "Scheduling didn't allow for stuff to go down with Timbaland; we just never got around to it," he says. "Not to say we won't work on something in the future."

The first single from the new album, "Because of You," recently began making rounds on radio. Ne-Yo hopes the second single will be a track titled "Call Me Crazy," which he describes as an "infatuation song, from when I was slightly infatuated with this one young lady."

"I'm not 100% finished [with the album], but it's definitely shaping up to what I wanted it to be," Ne-Yo continues. "I have a multifaceted personality, and I definitely touched on these facets on this record. I hope people listen to it with an open mind, because I took a lot of risks on this one."

The 24-year-old Las Vegas native has also been busy penning tracks for other artists. He says he's chatted with will.i.am about contributing to Michael Jackson's new album ("But again, we keep missing each other," he notes), and is also tipped to write for new projects from Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Usher, Chris Brown and Jennifer Hudson, who is the only featured guest on "Know Me."

This report is provided by Billboard.com