I interviewed Ne-Yo today.  My emotions were all over the place since it was election day but I got through it.  We chatted a little about his album, his kids, his relationship with his Dad, his girlfriend and fellatio. (He has a track on his new album titled, “Stress Reliever”)
Before the interview, I also reminded him that we had met before, at least 7 years ago.
The way the story goes..
Back in 2005, when I was an intern at WJLB radio station in Detroit and broke as hell, I was at the radio station one night fooling around in the production room.  I had been there since six that morning, doing any and everything that the radio station talent, promotions department, marketing director etc needed me to do while feeling hopeful that one day soon my dedication would pay off. [Mind you, I had just read Kevin Liles book from “Intern To President” and I knew that I’d have to go the extra mile if I wanted to snag a job over all of the other interns and promotions assistants that were working at the station at the time.]
That night, Nicole McCarty, who was the Def Jam Midwestern Rep, brought in Black Butterfly and Ne-Yo for an interview with the station.  Both were artists I had never heard of.  I couldn’t tell you what Black Butterfly released but at the time Ne-Yo had a single out with Peedi Crack titled, “Stay With Me”.  It had a very nice beat but I don’t think it charted at all.
When I let them in the locked doors of the station (it was after hours), Ne-Yo stood out to me immediately because he was very gentlemen-like. Holding doors open and just the way he talked and carried himself indicated that he was raised right.  They went into the studio for their interviews, and I went back into the production room to try to make an air check in hopes that one day the station director would put me on the air.
A few minutes later, Ne-Yo came into the room I was in.  At this point, I was very surprised because none of the artists, radio reps, etc that had ever come into the station (aside from Trey Songz) had ever acknowledged my existence so I immediately wondered what he wanted.  He sat down next to me and he asked what I was doing, and I told him.  He then said, “Is this what you want to do with your life”.  I thought about it for a minute because technically, I randomly ended up snagging an intern in radio but it’s not what I went to school for or ever dreamed about doing.  Once I realized that it was one of the only gigs in Detroit that would at least help me break into the entertainment industry, I went with it but it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever.
I guess I took too long to answer him because he said to me, “If this isn’t what you want to do with your life, you really should figure it out.  If I was to leave this earth today, I at least could say that I died doing what I loved and what I always wanted to do with my life.”  That’s all he said and five minutes later they all left the station.  It was so weird but I swear for the next few minutes, I sat in that chair with my mouth hanging open and my mind racing, wondering if I was really doing something I loved. Two months later, I snagged a job at the station, co-managing the promotions department.  6 months after that, I quit, realizing that radio wasn’t something I wanted to do with my life.  Meanwhile, Ne-Yo had become a star and his second single, “So Sick” was number 1 on the charts.  Exactly two years later, I had created an entertainment/celebrity gossip blog that had become one of the fastest growing blogs on the internet and I was happy.  See how God works.
Sometimes when people come into my life for a short time, just to drop little tidbits of inspiration on me, I always wonder if it’s my mom or grandmother’s spirit speaking to me.  It’s so very strange, but always right on time how it happens.  I’ll just claim it.

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