Ne-Yo Is So Sick Of Bloggers

noah | July 20, 2009 1:00 pm

During the time I’ve spent toiling in the blogger salt-mines, I’ve found that the people whose work I like the most are oftentimes the ones who have at least some sort of conflictedness about what they do—thanks to their being cognizant of the occupational hazards of snap judging, super-slow summer days that almost tempt one to post some bitchy linkbait for the purposes of having something new go up, and feeding frenzies based on the most scant bits of information being put out there. But perhaps the greatest cause of dismay for my colleagues in this admittedly odd job is the huge swath of complete idiots out there who also put their musings on the Internet via a backwards-chronological content-management system, and who thus allow the word “blogger” to be one that’s almost as spittable as “Perez.” Exhibit Q: The online types who were so ready to make dumb jokes about Ne-Yo’s incident in Manchester last week where he left the stage in tears after only performing a few songs, they inspired him to pen a statement entitled “To My Concerned Fans And The Lifeless Bloggers As Well.” Sigh. The first chunk of the statement is all about the conditions that led up to last Thurday—basically, dude has been working a lot, and not taking anything resembling a vacation in, oh, the past two years. He’s been writing songs for himself and others, acting, touring, paying tribute to Michael Jackson, etc., etc. He’s so prolific that the leak blogs I scour for new songs have running jokes about a day not being an actual day without some demo he recorded making its way online. But apparently some members of the online peanut gallery out there decided to take his on-stage breakdown not as a sign that the guy should maybe just head to the Poconos for some R & R, but as a sign that—wait for it—he “isn’t man enough.” Oh, Internet. You will never graduate from seventh grade, will you. I’ll let Ne-Yo take it from here.

Now let me explain something to you: When I say this music, that stage, my fans, THIS is my life, I’m not saying it cause it sounds good in a sound bite. THIS IS MY LIFE!! Not much else matters to me, honestly. My music, my family and the people that appreciate my music…..the fans. THAT’S ABOUT IT!! I’ve never had to stop a show, never dreamed I’d ever have to. So when I had to walk out on that stage and tell 12,000 of the people responsible for making me who I am that I could not perform for them, it literally broke my heart. I cried harder than I have in a very long time with no shame whatsoever. To anyone out there that would like to question my manhood because of this I’ll say this to you: If the one thing you cared about more than anything else in the world was threatened or even taken from you, if you knew that the people you cared for the most you had to disappoint and it was your fault… and this didn’t spark some kind of emotional outbreak within you…then with no shame I’ll say you are truly a stronger man than I. To the people of Manchester, know that I love you and I thank you for being so understanding and supportive. And I promise you that you will receive the show deserved. Thanks to the fans for the love and concern. And to the bloggers….go to hell. Sincerely, Ne*Yo!!

I’ll also say that probably none of those bloggers could put on a show like Ne-Yo does without at the very least collapsing in a heap by the fifth song. To My Concerned Fans And The Lifeless Bloggers As Well… [Year Of The Gentleman]

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