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But before you get all ready for a night with Ne-Yo, cue up your playlist; it’s imperative to listen to some of his best work to prep for later. We amassed a few of our favorites — both performed by Ne-Yo and written by him — to help get you in the gentleman mood; don’t break anything dancing too hard.

“LET ME LOVE YOU” – MARIO
Five years ago, Mario came onto the scene with “Let Me Love You,” which was penned by Ne-Yo, produced by the once-hot now-not Scott Storch and charted as No. 1 an impressive amount, from the Billboard Hot 100 (where it spent nine weeks) to the Rhythmic Top 40 to the Pop 100. That catchy (to the point of annoyance) chorus couldn’t get out of anyone’s head from its release in Oct. 2004 to its popularity zenith in spring 2005 (there’s something about the syncopation of “You should let me love you / Let me be the one to / Give you everything you want / And need” that just won’t quit), and while Mario has faded into obscurity since, Ne-Yo proved he could write a damn good pop song. Of course, many more would come ….

“IRREPLACEABLE” – BEYONCE
Who’d have thought the song all about putting your crap in a box to the left and getting the hell out of Beyonce’s life would a. not have been written for Beyonce at all, and b. supposed to be a country song? According to an interview with Blackfilm.com, the song was written by Ne-Yo with Shania Twain and Faith Hill in mind, but eventually wound up in Beyonce’s hands, where it would become her second most successful single to date (after “Crazy in Love”) and go platinum three times over. The song — more pop-centered than “Déjà Vu” and “Ring the Alarm,” the other singles from “B’Day” — would become synonymous with Beyonce’s new, girl-power-oriented image and would continue Ne-Yo’s string of success.

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“TAKE A BOW” – RIHANNA
So, in light of recent events, a song sung by Rihanna about a boyfriend’s infidelity may be a little too ironic given that the alleged fight between her and Chris Brown was about a text message to him from another girl. But before all that Whitney Houston/Bobby Brown stuff, “Take a Bow” was a sassy, sarcastic tell-off, even going so far as to insult a dude for being ugly when he cries. The song, which was the fifth single from “Good Girl Gone Bad,” would continue Rihanna’s reign at the top of the charts, giving her tremendously sexy image a little bit of edge (the song positively reeks of disgust, especially when she scoffs, “Please, just cut it out”). Plus, the line “I know you’re only sorry you got caught” is oh-too-timely; maybe Ne-Yo has some kind of psychic foretelling power or something? Or maybe it’s just that guys are always jerks?

“BACK LIKE THAT” – GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Although the Wu-Tang Clan are absurdly popular, their mainstream appeal isn’t too plentiful; it’s only when the members go solo, such as Method Man, that they’ve been able to go totally commercial. Such a phenomenon occurred with Ghostface Killah’s “Fishscale,” which featured “Back Like That,” an MTV success with Ne-Yo on songwriting and guest vocal duties. The song, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, is like a reverse “Take a Bow” in that it documents a dude’s reaction to his girl cheating on him with a rival; has plenty of good lines (our favorite being Ghostface’s, “Let me get that rock on your finger / Oh, it’s stuck? Then I’ll take the whole finger”); and showed that Ne-Yo isn’t just an R&B success — he can flitter in between the hip-hop world, too.

“CLOSER” – NE-YO
It may be silly to only have one song actually performed by Ne-Yo on this list, but “Closer” is undeniably his best track, repetitive, catchy and a perfect slice of pop. Though “Closer” reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom, it only reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, a confusing predicament given that the chorus — and, well, all of the song — is mind-burrowingly memorable, thanks to the dozens of times Ne-Yo sings “I just can’t stop” (our count is at 35 different iterations) and all those trippy dance moves in the music video (the whole black-and-white theme is very similar to Justin Timberlake’s and T.I.’s “My Love,” in our opinion). Seeing it live should be awesome; we’re very jealous of you ticket-holders.

» Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW; Wed., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., $64-$74; with Musiq Soulchild and Jazmine Sullivan; 202-628-4780. (Farragut West)

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi

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