Ne-Yo Calls Music Video Directorial Debut a ‘Dream Come True’

Ne-Yo can add music video director to his expansive résumé, tackling the creative for his new song “2 Million Secrets.”

“This is my directorial debut. I’m overly excited about it and forever grateful to the people that helped me make this dream come true,” the Grammy winner, 44, exclusively tells Us Weekly. “I’ve been telling stories via songs my entire career, so it was only a matter of time before I started taking the visuals out of my head and bringing them to life.”

“2 Million Secrets” — the song and corresponding video — was released on Friday, June 14, through Compound Entertainment and Create Music Group. It is the first track for Ne-Yo as an independent artist, who now has full creative control of his music.

“It’s a blessing to be in this position to control my own destiny as an independent artist,” he said in a statement earlier this week. “My artistry means everything to me and I’m excited to embrace this new beginning with ‘2 Million Secrets.’ It’s a personal song that took growth to write, but I’m proud to share it with the world.”

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In the single, Ne-Yo details his vulnerable side and shares his passionate confessions, as well as the results of keeping such secrets.

“So now I’m drinking a little more frequent, smoking a little more lately / I kept two million secrets, she got every reason to hate mе,” he sings. “’Cause I played with her hеart / She got every reason to hate me / And it’s tearing me apart.”

He adds, “I made a promise and then I hurt you / I’m really sorry to be honest for once / I know this is difficult to work through.

In addition to dropping new music, Ne-Yo is also gearing up to perform his biggest hits in a “Human Love Rebellion” residency in Las Vegas. He will headline shows at Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater on August 7 and August 9 through August 10.

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Ne-Yo first made a splash in the music scene in 2005 with the release of his single “So Sick.”

“I know how fickle this business can be. I know how short attention spans are now. I know there’s a whole new generation coming out behind what I did. So the fact that anybody still cares is a blessing for me,” he previously recalled to Billboard in February 2021. “Before I used to get stuff like, ‘The music is amazing. You done got me a lot of sex. Thank you, brother!’ And now I get, ‘Oh my God, you were my whole childhood!’ I mean, it’s a reminder that I ain’t a spring chicken no more, and that’s fine.”

With reporting by Andrea Simpson