In My Own Words is the debut studio album of American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on February 28, 2006. Conceived following his songwriting breakthrough with "Let Me Love You" for fellow R&B singer Mario in 2004, Ne-Yo worked with musicians Ron "Neff-U" Feemster, Brandon Howard, Shea Taylor, and Curtis "Sauce" Wilson, as well as Norwegian production duo Stargate on most of the album, some of which would become regular contributors on subsequent projects. The singer co-wrote the lyrics for each song on In My Own Words which features guest appearances by rappers Peedi Peedi and Ghostface Killah. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics and earned a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Contemporary R&B Album category. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 301,000 copies sold, and reached the top ten of the Canadian Albums Chart. It was subsequently certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with 1,5 million copies sold in the United States, and became a platinum-seller in Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom as well. Four singles were released from the album, including "Stay", "When You're Mad", "Sexy Love", and the number-one hit "So Sick". In further support, Ne-Yo went on tour in August 2006 with singer Chris Brown and Dem Franchize Boyz. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 69, which indicates "generally favorable" reviews, based on 11 reviews. AllMusic editor Andy Kellman gave In My Own Words a four-and-a-half-out-of-five-stars-rating and noted that it "could turn out to be the most impressive R&B debut of 2006, as well as one of several milestones in a lengthy career [...] It's very focused and surprisingly taut, especially for a debut that involves several producers [...] Its modern approach, interlocked with touches of '70s and '80s R&B sensibilities, is also in effect for the entirety of the album." In his review for USA Today, Steve Jones remarked that "Ne-Yo is the latest in a recent line of engaging young R&B singers but with his own words he sets himself apart [...] On his soulful solo debut, it's apparent that the Las Vegas-bred singer saved some of his best lyrical work for himself." Dan Nishimoto from PopMatters declared the album a "notable success. With spare but