A Taste:

Lady GaGa, Kanye West, Coldplay

R&B superstar Ne-Yo sat down with us in this exclusive interview, and he gave us a look at his personal iTunes playlist. Ne-Yo’s tastes are just as eclectic as he is, and he gave us an insightful breakdown on why the albums he spins regularly are so good.

Right now, Ne-Yo’s up for numerous Grammy awards, including “Album of the Year” for his standout 2008 offering Year of the Gentleman. Check out more info about Ne-Yo on our exclusive Grammy mini-site and discover what he’s cranking below.

Ne-yo’s Playlist

1. Lady GaGa — The Fame

“I have become a huge Lady GaGa fan. I dig her. Listening to her stuff and watching her stage performance, I think she really embodies what it is to be an artist. She’s out there. She’s weird, for lack of a better term, but it’s a good weird. She is who she is, and she doesn’t make any apologies for it. I think more people should think of music like she does instead of all this copycattin’ you see going on.”

2. Kanye West — 808s & Heartbreak

“I dig this album. If you understand who Kanye is and what he was going through when he did this album, then it all makes perfect sense. You can’t listen to this album like you can College Dropout or Late Registration or even Graduation. It’s a different Kanye on this album. It’s a dark, moody and emotional album.”

3. Anthony Hamilton — The Point of it All

4. Jazmine Sullivan — Fearless

“She’s amazing. She tells it like it is.”

5. John Legend — Evolver

6. Coldplay — Viva La Vida

“It’s dope.”

—Rick Florino
02.03.09