Singer/songwriter Ne-Yo is BACK with a song that sounds...well...like all of his other songs. "Beautiful Monster" is a nice little R&B-dance-pop concoction that works in the same way previous efforts like "Closer" and "Because of You" worked. All of the above are up-tempo, club-friendly Top 40 tracks with the same general vibe. Ne-Yo knows what works, and seeing how busy he's been lately as a songwriter, it's evident that other industry contemporaries recognize his talent. So far the Stargate-produced number is sitting at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, #28 on the Mainstream Top 40 Chart and #88 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. It seems doing be doing very well in Korea, where it's #3 on the International Singles Chart there. "Beautiful Monster" impacted both mainstream and rhtymic airplay on June 8th, the same day it was digitally released.
The video for "Beautiful Monster" has a sort of a Michael Jackson/"Thriller" vibe going on with Ne-Yo taking on the role of Jackson's character. It's an epic battle of good vs. evil...on the dancefloor, with Ne-Yo being the good and the dancers being the evil, complete with little glowing, pupil-less eye balls. Very eerie...much like the cover art. The song is slick, much like Ne-Yo himself. I can dig it. "Closer" and "Because Of You" delivered a pretty SICK remix package so here's hoping "Beautiful Monster" receives the same club love. The song is the first single off of Ne-Yo's upcoming fourth studio album, Libra Scale, due in September.
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