Ne-Yo may be busy with being a judge on the newly premiered third season of World Of Dance, but that's not all that the multi-talented artist has going on. Later this month, he'll reprise his role as Sage when the series Step Up: High Water returns for its second season on YouTube Originals. Ne-Yo's character on the continuation of the popular movie franchise is a mega-famous entertainer, so he gets to flex his singing, dancing and acting skills in this role. Of course, he has a few contributions to the forthcoming Step Up: High Water soundtrack, the first of which is the uptempo jam "Genesis."
"Genesis" loosely details Sage's journey from his humble beginnings to superstardom all thanks to music. He not-so-humbly sings about, "How I came up / How I got my name up / How I blew this game up," but it's not bragging if it's true.
Step Up: High Water is set in present day, but on "Genesis" Ne-Yo rewinds the clock to the late '80s to the New Jack Swing era for its soundscape. Sharing its DNA (and a few signature notes) with Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative," "Genesis" sounds straight outta 1989, not 2019 – which isn't a bad thing. The song sounds so authentically New Jack Swing that you'd think that Teddy Riley, the creator of the genre, had a hand in its creation. However, his name is nowhere in sight in the credits. Instead, you'll find that Ne-Yo and Tierce “Kizzo” Person wrote and produced the track and did Riley proud.
Check Ne-Yo out as Sage and hear more funky numbers like this one when Step Up: High Water premieres on YouTube Premium on Wednesday, March 20th. Lace up your dancing shoes when you listen to "Genesis" as you watch the track's lyric video and don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to bust a move. While you're here, take a peek at the SUHW season two trailer filled with lots of drama and, of course, dancing.
