Soul Fixin'

Year of the Gentleman

Ne-Yo has put the finishing touches on his third album Year of the Gentleman, due in August. The influence of Michael Jackson is quite evident in the music of Ne-Yo, Ne-Yo makes it a point to pay homage to his musical icon on all of his albums. Ne-Yo pays tribute to Michael on Year of the Gentleman with "Nobody."

"Nobody" tells the story of two strangers on the dance floor."Say she didn't give you anything, but instead she just started dancing, and it was the most amazing thing you've ever seen," Ne-Yo explains. "It's like she's untouchable, like it would be a sin to touch her or dance with her, with what's going on with her right now."

Ne-Yo played the track for the music legend and received positive feedback. "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."

Check out the video below, Ne-Yo gives MTV a preview of Year of the Gentleman.

.