R&B star Ne-Yo has left Def Jam and signed a new deal with Motown , where he will not only continue to make his own music but serve as an executive for the label as well.
“His track record of success at Def Jam will always be a benchmark,” Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown chairman/CEO Barry Weiss said in a statement. “But this move to Motown will provide new and inspiring challenges for Ne-Yo as both an artist and a key member of the new senior management team that is taking form at the label in 2012.”
Ne-Yo has been named the senior vice president for artists and repertoire at Motown and will be tasked with finding and developing new talent. Ne-Yo said his main goal in his new role is to make music that everyone can enjoy.
“I want to get back to a place where everybody’s listening to the same thing no matter what race, color, creed you are,” he told the Associated Press. “ there’s music that’s specifically for Black people and there’s music that’s specifically for White people, and I feel like the essence of…music is lost when you do that.”
The announcement came on the heels of the box-office success of the movie “Red Tails,” in which Ne-Yo portrayed one of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Grammy-award winning songwriter and producer will also be a mentor for Cee Lo Green’s team on the next season of NBC’s “The Voice.”