Ne-Yo chats about ‘amazing’ competitors on ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’

Ne-Yo is one of the top R&B stars who feature dance prominently in their music -- he’s even starred in projects like “Stomp the Yard” that keep hip hop dance at its core -- so it’s fitting that the multi-platinum recording artist is the first performer on the first episode of MTV’s re-started “America’s Best Dance Crew: Road to the VMAs.”

“ABDC,” which airs Wednesday night, pits champion crews from the show’s seven seasons against each other. The competing crews include Season 2 winner Super Cr3w, Season 3 winner Quest Crew, Season 4 winner We Are Heroes, Season 6 winner IamMe and Season 7 winners the Elektrolytes. Another crew, Kinjaz, includes members from season 1 winner the Jabbawockeez, Season 1 contenders Kaba Modern, and Season 5 winners Poreotix.

The crews rarely got to perform with the artists whose music they were dancing to in past shows, though many went on to become centerpieces in videos or on tours with artists like Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, LMFAO, Ciara, Usher and more. Missy Elliott performed with some of the top crews in Season 2, and Ne-Yo, as we announced last week, will now follow in those footsteps with a medley of his own hits to re-introduce the crews.

We caught up with Ne-Yo for a very quick chat after he finished taping his episode to get his impression of the show.

How was it performing with the crews on “ABDC?”

Man. Every time I think that we’ve finally figured out all that can be done with the human body, you come here and realize that we haven’t even scratched the surface. These cats are absolutely amazing. I had a great time and it seemed like the crowd had a good time, and that’s all that you can really ask for as a performer. My job is done!

Did you watch much of the show before?

Oh yeah! I am a huge fan. The Jabbawockeez -- you know, the first team to ever win -- I performed with them in one of my kind of signature performances at the BET Awards. That was really, really cool. So, yeah, I’ve been a fan since the beginning.

Did you see any moves that you think you could use onstage?

That I could use? I would be very cocky and conceited to think that I could even come close to doing some of the things that these cats are doing on stage. I don’t know -- I think I’ll leave the more complicated stuff to the professionals.

What’s going on musically?

“Nonfiction” album is going on right now. Much love to everybody that’s picked it up, and if you haven’t, you should. We’re gonna tour for that shortly. The TV show “Empire” -- I’ve actually been doing a lot of music for that and am on my way to Chicago as we speak to some more recording for that show. I’m going to be on the show as well -- a couple of guest spots here and there.