When Ne-Yo first debuted in 2006 with In My Own Words , he was an instant phenomenon in the R&B world. Boosted by massive singles like “So Sick” and “Sexy Love”, the album topped the charts with 301,000 copies sold.
But before he was working on his own music, the R&B artist was a songwriter, penning songs for artists like Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans, and Musiq. It wasn’t until Ne-Yo wrote Mario’s “Let Me Love You”, which spent nine weeks at number one, that then-CEO of Def Jam Jay-Z signed him to a record deal.
From there, Ne-Yo dropped three albums in quick succession, including In My Own Words , Because of You and Year of the Gentleman , with each one performing well commercially and achieving platinum or multi-platinum status.
From his debut album, In My Own Words , to his later releases like 2018’s Good Man , here are the rankings for Ne-Yo’s first week album sales.
Good Man
Released: June 8, 2018
Label: Compound, Motown
First week album sales: 13,000
Billboard 200 position: 33
Singles: “Good Man”, “Push Back”
Features: Bebe Rexha, Stefflon Don, Romeo Santos, PartyNextDoor, Eric Bellinger.
Non-Fiction
Released: January 27, 2015
Label: Compound, Motown
First week album sales: 59,000
Billboard 200 position: 5
Singles: “Money Can’t Buy”, “She Knows”, “Time of Our Lives”, “Coming with You”
Features: Schoolboy Q, Charisse Mills, T.I., Pitbull, Jeezy, Juicy J, Candice.
R.E.D.
Released: November 6, 2012
Label: Compound, Motown
First week album sales: 66,000
Billboard 200 position: 4
Singles: “Lazy Love”, “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)”, “Don’t Make Em Like You”, “Forever Now”
Features: Wiz Khalifa, Tim McGraw.
Libra Scale
Released: November 22, 2010
Label: Compound, Def Jam
First week album sales: 112,000
Billboard 200 position: 9
Singles: “Beautiful Monster”, “Champagne Life”, “One in a Million”
Features: Fabolous.
Year of the Gentleman
Released: June 24, 2008
Label: Compound, Def Jam
First week album sales: 250,000
Billboard 200 position: 2
Singles: “Closer”, “Miss Independent”, “Mad”, “She Got Her Own”, “Part of the List”
Features: Jamie Foxx and Fabolous.
Because of You
Released: May 1, 2007
Label: Compound, Def Jam
First week album sales: 251,000
Billboard 200 position: 1
Singles: “Because of You”, “Do You”, “Can We Chill”, “Go On Girl”
Features: Jay-Z, Jennifer Hudson.
In My Own Words
Released: February 28, 2006
Label: Compound, Def Jam
First week album sales: 301,000
Billboard 200 position: 1
Singles: “Stay”, “So Sick”, “When You’re Mad”, “Sexy Love”
Features: Ghostface Killah, Peedi Peedi.
