Ne-Yo and Keyshia Cole didn’t get off to the best of starts when their first studio session together ended up being a little awkward.
Speaking on an episode of the We Sound Crazy podcast, Ne-Yo was asked if there was ever a session where he and the artist he was writing for just couldn’t agree on a final product.
Recalling his first session with Cole (around the 26:20 mark in the video above), the “When You’re Mad” singer explained that she was an artist that he couldn’t “figure it out” with.
“I remember the first time I tried to write for Keyshia Cole and just couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t get it right for whatever reason,” he began. “Now mind you, I don’t know if something had happened before she got there, but she kinda came in the studio on 10 a little bit, which had already rubbed me the wrong way because I was like, ‘Damn, I don’t even know you. Why are you mad at me?'”
Noting Cole’s attitude, he continued: “It seemed like she was upset at something.”
Although Cole was introduced to Ne-Yo as a fellow singer-songwriter, he already had a song drafted, which the “Love” singer wanted to hear after she spent time writing.
“She walked in kind of on 10. She sits down, huffing and puffing. About 20, 30 minutes go by, she finally turns to me and goes, ‘What you got?'” Ne-Yo said.
“So I sing to her what I got, she goes, ‘Yeah that’s cool hold on,'” he continued. “She gets up and she leaves, and she doesn’t come back. I’m like, ‘Okay, I guess that’s the session guys.'”
Despite Cole abandoning their initial session, the artists seem to be on better terms and even collaborated on DJ Khaled’s 2011 song “Legendary.”
