Grammy-winning R&B artist Ne-Yo returns following a three-year hiatus with an enjoyable, overall well-rounded seventh studio album with Good Man.

Following a three-year hiatus, Grammy-winning R&B artist Ne-Yo returns with his seventh studio album, Apology. The singer-songwriter’s best work arguably came in 00s, with a run of albums including In My Own Words, Because of You, and Year of the Gentleman.  Nonetheless, Shaffer Smith had his moments in the 10s. The question is, does his seventh studio album Good Man qualify as one of those moments? Let’s analyze it!

Highs

The Voice.

First and foremost, Ne-Yo shines thanks to his marvelous instrument.  Throughout Good Man, his pipes are on-point. “Apology” is among the crème de la crème, with the urban contemporary artist channeling remorsefulness through his nuanced tenor, including a dash of ripe falsetto.  On “Back Chapters,” his voice shines through with great sincerity as he passionately asserts, “Everybody’s got a past so the past don’t matter / Baby, everybody’s story got a few back chapters.”  On “Good Man” he’s silky smooth with his relatively light, easygoing vocals.  It’s a perfect example of what made him such a ‘cool cat’ back in the day.

Themes encompassing love, sex, and relationships. 

Love, sex, and relationships are a requirement of R&B albums. Ne-Yo focuses his energy on these topics throughout Good Man.  Where he stands out most when it comes to ‘love’ and ‘relationships’ is how appreciative he is of his bae. On the fantastic “U Deserve” he asserts that she deserves the very best and utmost respect at all times, even when “his team just lost.”

His heart is in the right place on follow-up “Apology”, as he seems remorseful about how wrongly he’s treated women in his life. “If my mama knew the things I did, she wouldn’t like it,” he sings on the first verse, continuing, “She taught me better (yeah), I know I knew way better.” On the title track, he asserts on the simple, yet highly-effective chorus, “So, I just wanna be a good man, good man to you, girl / That’s all I want to be, baby.”

Ne-Yo also pulls off matters of the bedroom successfully. The steamy “Breathe” goes down and dirty without crossing the line, which is a selling point.  The sexual innuendo is turned up on “Hotbox” featuring Eric Bellinger, but like “Breathe,” he keeps it classy.

The Production.

An urban contemporary album MUST have stellar production work.  Good Mancertainly has capable, compelling backdrops supporting Ne-Yo.  “Apology” superbly blends urban-contemporary, hip-hop, and gospel sensibilities. “Summertime” is hip and modern, yet also feels like Ne-Yo successful channels the soul of the past with splashes of organ. Also, the use of acoustic guitars not only succeeds in capturing the beachy, summer vibe, but also infuses a touch of pop.  Guitar is an integral part of the Latin-pop-infused “Nights Like These” featuring Romeo Santos.“Push Back” thrives off its infectious groove and its flirtation with tropical-pop and the sounds of the islands.

A blend of contemporary and traditional, as well as eclecticism.

Good Man features a good blend of contemporary and traditional R&B, as well as incorporating modern pop into the equation.  Ne-Yo has often incorporated pop into some of his songs, which resulted in gems such as “Miss Independent”, “Closer”, “Beautiful Monster”, and “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)”.  Perhaps he doesn’t live up to the stature of those songs on Good Man, but he incorporates Latin-pop on “Nights Like These” and reggae and tropical pop on “Push Back” (amplified by an appearance by Stefflon Don) and “On Ur Mind” (featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR).

Lows

Length. 

For the most part, Good Man is much ‘higher’ than it is ‘lower.’ However, at 67 minutes (deluxe edition), it actually runs a bit long.  Even the standard edition approaches an hour, which pushes it often because of clichés.  The length isn’t a total bummer, but it’s not a ‘high’ of Good Man.  

Themes are relatable, but also cliché.

 The length actually is affected by the repeated themes of Good Man.  The main rub is that after the best songs, it seems like there are good songs that aren’t necessarily great songs. The stretch including “Hotbox,” “Over U,” and “Without U” is respectable, but not nearly as thrilling as some of the preceding numbers or the advance singles.  Another example is “Ocean Sure” (featuring Candice Boyd and Sam Hook).  It’s generally well-written and thoughtful, but by the time we get to it in the sequence of Good Man, it feels like we’ve already ‘been there, done that.’

No surefire ‘pop’ hits.

It’s no secret that R&B struggles at earning ‘pop’ hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  While Good Man has some nice pop-oriented moments, I’m not sure that there’s a surefire pop hit that transcends Ne-Yo beyond the urban crowd.  Advance single “Push Back” has the sound, but with tropical-pop so saturated, I don’t bank on its chances to catch on more. “Nights Like These” also has the potential, but again, it doesn’t feel surefire.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Ne-Yo delivers a respectable urban contemporary album with Good Man.  He doesn’t reinvent R&B, but this is a well-rounded effort that successfully reminds us why he was one of the genre’s top acts in the late 00s into the 10s.  The biggest rub is length, coupled with clichés.  Even so, there’s enough ‘hits’ contextually that the cuts that stand out less don’t take away from the overall success of Good Man.

Gems: “Nights Like These,” “U Deserve,” “Summertime,” “Push Back,” “Breathe,” “Back Chapters,” “Apology” & “Good Man”

Ne-Yo • Good Man• Motown • Release: 6.8.18

Photo Credit: Motown