Ne-Yo's New Tracks Get The Seal Of Approval From His First Love -- And Michael Jackson

By Jennifer Vineyard, with additional reporting by Tim Kash

Ne-Yo is only on his third album, but already he has established a couple of themes that run through all his work. The R&B singer/songwriter has decided that each album has to have at least one tribute to his first love and one song that pays homage to his musical icon, Michael Jackson.

"Anybody who has been following Ne-Yo from the start knows that I'm a huge, huge Michael Jackson fan," the singer explained. "And love is one of the few things on the face of this planet that will never go out of style."

The MJ tribute on Ne-Yo's forthcoming album Year of the Gentleman, due in August, is called "Nobody." It's a club-thumping follow-up to his current single, "Closer."dis of Chris Brown in the MTV Newsroom.)

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When Ne-Yo played the track for Jackson, with whom he's currently working, he got a positive response. "He told me that he likes the way I do Michael Jackson," Ne-Yo beamed. "I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, 'When you do that, it doesn't feel like you're trying to copy me or trying to be me. It feels like you're complimenting me.' And that's what I'm doing. It means the world that he liked it."

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[ Source: MTV.com ]