Raised solely by his mother, Ne-Yo was born Shaffer Chimere Smith on October 18, 1982 in Arkansas and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada where he began to develop his skills in writing songs. Ne-Yo entered the music scene as one part of an R 'n' B group called Envy but the band sadly parted ways in 2000. He was then signed by Columbia Records, only to find his album project being disappointingly shelved for more than a year, prompting him to leave the company empty-handed. However, a song which was supposed to appear on the album led to his future in music.