Because Of You

Kelly Clarkson, kindly step aside: the title "Because of You" now belongs to Ne-Yo, who has done things with it no one with a pair of hands to clap will soon forget. And not just on the phenomenally appealing first single. Throughout Because of You, the sophomore disc by the songwriter responsible for such monster hits as Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and Rihanna's "Unfaithful," a flutter-voiced fluidity--the kind seldom heard since Michael Jackson's Off the Wall days--reigns. Jay-Z makes room to let it rip on "Crazy," and Jennifer Hudson wraps herself around it with restraint on "Leaving Tonight," a lovers' quarrel that could hold its own against anything Marilyn McCoo & Billy David Jr. cared to toss off in their heyday. If it's MJ who's lingered in Ne-Yo's ear longest, Prince hasn't gone silent, either: echoes poke up on the far-out "Sex with My Ex." Elsewhere, shades of contemporaries such as Nelly and Diddy show through. Overall, though, Ne-Yo's flammable hooks, flirty vibe, and flawless vocals reveal an R&B genius in the making. If the talent bar for up-and-comers is set impossibly high in the coming years, chances are it will be all because of him. --Tammy La Gorce

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