Neo (Musician/Guest) (2:02)

Oh, no, no, it's definitely there. You know, I originally, when I first moved to Atlanta, I moved to Mableton and I had a spot out there. You know, my mom came down and started visiting and she loved the spot. So Much that she started. It's actually funny. She started doing stuff like leaving stuff there so she'd have an excuse to come back. Hey, I left my glasses case at your house. I'm gonna come down for about a week. Give him glasses case. A week. Glasses case. Okay, Ma, you can just come back. You don't have to. But so I actually gave that to her and went and went and got myself something. I'm in the city now. I'm in Buckhead.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (2:36)

Nice.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (2:37)

Oh, yeah. Shout out to the people over at Huff, by the way. They did the interior decorating for me. Put it together real nice for me.

Radio Co-Host (2:44)

Is that the shiny out, like, reflective outside?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (2:48)

Oh, what'd you say?

Radio Co-Host (2:49)

So that's the store that has the reflective exterior.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (2:53)

They got a lot of really eclectic furniture in there.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (2:56)

So now when you. When you do something like that and you've got a new place, do you go into the store and tell them stuff that you like, or do you just call them up? And then when you finally get home, will you be totally surprised at how they've done it all up for you?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (3:07)

Well, they. They definitely. You know, they were sending me pictures back and forth because I was on a roll the whole time they were renovating. You know, I picked the paint, and I picked out, you know, certain pieces of furniture. And, you know, but I trust the guy that put it together. You know, I trusted him to let him just go ahead and get creative with his as well. So some of the stuff when I got there, I didn't know that they were going to put up, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it. And then other stuff, you know, we collaborated on.

Radio Co-Host (3:31)

All right, so ne, for all the ladies listening, you have to slowly describe what your bedroom looks like.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (3:36)

Slowly describe what my bedroom looks like. My bedroom is easily the biggest room in the whole place. It's a very, very large bed. It's a large, white leather bed. Let me see. I have a lot of pillows. I have a lot of candle holders set up everywhere just in case I meet somebody that's worthy enough for me to set the mood like that for.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (3:58)

Is it a water bed with convenient storage underneath?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (4:01)

It is not a waterbed, because a water bed messes with my motion. I like going on to be the motion that I'm producing. I do have a mirror on my ceiling because I like to watch. Let me see, Let me see. That's pretty much it. Very low lit. There's not a whole lot of light going on in there. You can see all of Atlanta from The windows that are pretty much the whole left hand wall is our windows, you know, so you can see all of Atlanta. The view is crazy at night.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (4:34)

If me and my wife could just borrow that apartment for the weekend, I'd really appreciate that. Do you really hook me up, in

Neo (Musician/Guest) (4:41)

all honesty, I'm saying, you know, be nice to me. We'll see what happens. We'll work something out.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (4:45)

Do you really want to see something? Do you really want to see yourself doing that?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (4:49)

Not so much.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (4:50)

I'd be under the covers.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (4:55)

Like, hey, blow out those candles.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (4:58)

It's not dark enough in here. Hey, I read this morning that you're having some problems with women right now. Is this true? That, like, you're having some trust issues? You don't know which ones are digging you because you're Neo or which ones are digging you because you're the dude with a whole bunch of. With a new penthouse and money and.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (5:13)

Well, I mean, I think that's something that a lot of people in this business go through. You know, once you get to a certain level, as far as fame and money is concerned, it gets really hard to tell who's digging you for you and who's digging you for, you know, for the whole Neo factor, the money and the fame and, you know, all of that. So I honestly look at it like this. I'm not focusing on trying to find that girl. Finding girls is easy. You know, girls are all over the place. But that particular one girl is the one that's difficult to find right now. So I'm not even gonna focus on it. I'm just basically be focused on this album that's out today and promoting it the right way and, you know, getting out there and doing shows and honestly feel that when it's supposed to happen, when she's supposed to, you know, magically fall into my lap, she'll do just that.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (5:58)

Do you have one person in your life that you sort of use as your buffer to tell if this girl is authentic or not?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (6:06)

The people that I work with are my closest friends. You know, that's one of the cool things about working with people that you can consider friend. You know, they're very, very verbal about, you know, who they see me with. You know, so I'll be with somebody, and they'll, you know, politely behind her back, be like, no, not that one. I've gotten that a couple times. Or I've gotten a thumbs up before. If it's somebody that I feel is special, they don't just get to meet my mom. Just on a whim. That's not gonna happen. You gotta prove yourself a little bit before you get the final test, which is moms. And mom, she has yet to be wrong. Any girl that she's ever gave me a positive or negative response to has always been accurate. Even if I didn't see it right then my moms would be like, I just don't think it's her. And I'd be like, mom, you don't understand.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (6:56)

I love.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (6:57)

And then, you know, a week later, we'd be broke up. Mom was right.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (7:00)

Neo joining the Birch Show Q100.

Radio Co-Host (7:02)

Now, Neo, you said you're gonna be all over the place because the new album coming out, but are you coming back to Atlanta for the BET Hip Hop Awards?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:09)

I do believe so. I think I got a couple nominations. I think I have.

Radio Co-Host (7:12)

I was gonna say, yeah, you're featured on.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:14)

In case I win. Gotta get out there.

Radio Co-Host (7:15)

Yeah, yeah, you're featured on a couple songs. So congratulations.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:18)

Thank you very much.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (7:20)

Talking about the new album this morning, which drops today. Here's just a sample of it.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:23)

It's a single new day.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (7:25)

This is actually the New Kids on the Block.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:27)

Shout out to the new kids, them now.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (7:29)

Did you have fun working with those guys?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:31)

I was a little skeptical about working with them in the very beginning, I'm gonna be honest. You know, Jimmy Iovine from Interscope Records, he hit me about. About, you know, working with them and, you know, it's been, what, 15, 20 years?

Radio Co-Host (7:44)

Something like that?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (7:45)

Yeah, something like that. So I was like, okay, these guys are, you know, doing the midlife crisis thing and they're trying to make me a part of it. I don't know if I want to do that, but I actually got a chance to talk to Donnie, got a chance to talk to guys, like, really sit, chill with the guys and just see how serious they are about this. Like, it. They're not even looking at it. Like, we gotta get back out there. We're on the comeback trail. They're looking at it like, you know, we're brand new artists and we gotta get out here and prove ourselves. So, like, that's what attracted me to the whole thing. Like, just seeing how serious and how dedicated they were to doing this real, you know. So we did a record, shot the video in my hometown, went out and shot it in Vegas. And yeah, man, it came together real nice.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (8:23)

Is that pretty standard for you? Like when an artist approaches you to work with them, does there have to be that sit down meeting where you look in their Eyes or can a name alone make you say, yes, I'll work with you?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (8:35)

Well, the name alone can make me consider it. You know, I mean, I've been lucky enough to not. Not have worked with anybody yet that I actually got to meet them and they turn out to be a jerk. You know, I haven't, I haven't done that yet. Yeah, normal. I mean, you don't always get to do the initial sit down because you know, their schedules won't permit or my schedule won't permit, you know, so. But when I do get to do it, it normally makes for a better, just a better song, a better, you know, better session. All the way around. All the way around.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (9:04)

You know what artists have pitched you recently that you're still considering that you haven't decided yay or nay yet on?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (9:12)

There's nobody that I haven't decided yet on people I'm about to work with. Well, I mean, there's not a whole lot of people I'm about to work with just because, you know, the album is out. So I got to move around. But Marilyn Manson's people reached out.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (9:24)

Really?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (9:24)

Yeah. So we're putting, we're trying to put that together right now. I just recently did a session with Michael Bolton which was really, really cool.

Radio Co-Host (9:32)

That is awesome.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (9:33)

I mean, you really like to stretch yourself there, don't you? I mean, you don't want to be pigeon toed.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (9:36)

Oh yeah, yeah. It's diversity. Diversity is the name of the game. At the end of the day, I want people to be able to say that Neo was a great songwriter. Not an R and B songwriter, not a pop songwriter, but just a songwriter, period.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (9:47)

That's awesome. It's Neo joining the Birch on Q100. We're going to talk more about. You're the gentleman here in just a second. So a couple of weeks ago, I got to ask you about this. You win a boatload of money from R Ke like $700,000 or something? Roughly, yeah, roughly 700 grand. It's actually a little more than that.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (10:00)

So he's got to pay for that furniture somehow right

Radio Host (Birch Show) (10:04)

now, I think the assumption at first was that you sort of felt like they booted you off the tour because you were kicking ass. And the R. Kelly people might have been getting a little bit jealous of that whole situation. So they let you go. Did anybody in his camp ever say that to you or was that just sort of a feeling you got?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (10:19)

No, nobody said that to me. Of course they're not going to say you're doing Better than R. Kelly. So you got to go. No, that's not. They'd never admit that that's what I felt was wrong, because I couldn't find any other reason for them to kick me off the tour. Like, we were. Like, we were going above and beyond, you know, just to make sure that everybody was comfortable with us. Like, we. We were doing things that were just out of the ordinary, you know, putting up with stuff that. That nobody should have to put up with, you know, and then for them. For him to kick me off the tour for what? Like, I couldn't find any other reason why he would have kicked me off.

Radio Co-Host (10:51)

Did they give you an official reason?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (10:53)

They said something about some contracts or something, which was a complete bull, because my manager, Tango, does not. He's the businessman. There is no contract that's ever going to come my way where all the T's aren't going to be crossed in, the I's dotted and it laminated and put in a pretty package. Like, he's going to make sure that everything is taken care of the way it's supposed to be, you know, so that. That could have been. That was absolute crap.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (11:17)

After you heard that you weren't going to be on the tour anymore, did you personally, like, reach out to R. Kelly and go, dude, let's just do this one on one, man to man, here?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (11:25)

I tried. You know what? I tried to reach out to R. Kelly one time, and this was before any talks of me being off the tour was even considered. This is when I first got on the tour. I tried to go to him and thank him for actually putting me on the tour, and his security people shooed me away. Like I was. Like I was, you know, some annoying little fan. Like, get out of here.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (11:41)

No kidding?

Radio Co-Host (11:42)

Really?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (11:42)

Yeah. I've never seen R. Kelly's face.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (11:45)

Come on. Really?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (11:46)

I've never. I've never spoken two words to this man. Never.

Radio Co-Host (11:50)

Do you think if you guys were face to face that it would be awkward or weird or.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (11:54)

I mean, it wouldn't be weird for me because I don't hold grudges. I don't. I don't hold any. I don't have any grudge against R. Kelly. I think he felt what he felt when he felt it and did what he had to do. You know, unfortunately, it cost him $700,000, but it is what it is.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (12:08)

That'll wipe out a grudge pretty quickly. You give me $700,000, I'm feeling pretty good about things. Here's more from the album. You're the gentleman available. I was on YouTube and there's a video of you kind of giving MTV viewers a sneak peek in the studio of what's on the album. And I'm not saying this in a bad way. While you were listening to your own music in the studio, it made me realize that you really like your own music.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (12:35)

I love what you do.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (12:36)

You really do. And I'm not saying that in a bad way, like you were really jamming out to your own tunes.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (12:40)

Absolutely. I mean, I gotta be a fan of me first before anybody else can.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (12:45)

You're proud of this album?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (12:46)

I'm very, very proud of this album. I honestly think that this album is some of my best work.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (12:51)

In what way? What makes this any different or better than the rest of the Neo sing?

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (12:55)

He wrote it and he sings it.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (12:57)

Well, I mean, that's true about all three albums, but this one, from a standpoint of diversity, you know, I was really proud of the fact that I was allowed to step out of my comfort zone and try some new things. You know, just with songs like Closer. And there's a song on the album called Part of the List that's very much, you know, almost alternative, rocky genres. It's just allowing me to do that. You know, I was proud of my fans for riding with me on that and proud of myself for even, you know, even being brave enough to take the chance.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (13:27)

I read yesterday, and I don't know if this is true, because you never know what is true or not on the Internet, that you just weren't real happy with the whole R and B world. And you're like, I gotta step up and do something.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (13:36)

Pretty much, that's pretty much what it was. I was just kind of bored with it, you know what I mean? Like, everybody was kind of doing the same thing, sounding the same. So I needed to. I needed to step out of it and just find some other inspiration. So that's what I did.

Radio Co-Host (13:50)

And are you headed out on tour anytime soon? When can your fans come see you?

Neo (Musician/Guest) (13:54)

We're putting together the promo tour right now. I don't know exactly when we're moving out, just because we got to figure out who we're going to go with.

Radio Co-Host (14:01)

Okay.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:02)

You know, I don't want to go out just, you know, by myself. Not saying that I couldn't, but I just think it would make more sense. Like, I was trying to put something together with Robin Thicke. Me and John Legend was talking about doing something. So we just. We're just trying to find what's going to make the most sense.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (14:14)

Boy, there'd be a lot of baby making in this city after that show. I would get some just for getting the tickets.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (14:21)

Yeah, you should give away those ceiling mirrors at the concert.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:28)

Hey, Neil, good luck.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (14:30)

Good luck with the new album.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:32)

Thank you, sir.

Radio Co-Host (14:33)

And thank you for writing the song about wanting an independent woman. I think those lyrics are really powerful.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:39)

Absolutely. Absolutely. I learned about you.

Radio Co-Host (14:42)

Oh, thank you.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (14:43)

He knew. Hey, that's where you're at in your life right now.

Radio Co-Host (14:45)

I'm serious about that. A male artist writing about independent women and those lyrics being really impactful coming from a guy is really cool.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:53)

Oh, yeah.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (14:54)

Hey, next time you're back in Atlanta, we'd love to have you back in the studio, man. We love having you.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (14:57)

Definitely. Definitely.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (14:58)

All right, good luck.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (15:00)

All right, man. Take care.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (15:01)

Thanks, Neil.

Neo (Musician/Guest) (15:01)

Bye.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (15:02)

Bye, guys. Still so grounded.

Radio Co-Host (15:07)

Yeah.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (15:08)

Grounded. Yeah. There's a lot to love there, right?

Radio Co-Host (15:11)

Yeah. And he has a mirror above his bed.

Radio Host (Birch Show) (15:14)

And there's another reason.

Radio Co-Host/Interviewer (15:15)

You like that, huh?

Radio Host (Birch Show) (15:18)

The bird show.

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Neo (Musician/Guest) (15:49)

Dinner time.

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