Ne-Yo released his fourth studio album, Libra Scales, in November via Def Jam Records.  But the first week sales of the project didn’t meet the crooner’s expectations. All of his past projects have sold higher and debuted at the #1 or #2 spots on the Billboard 200; this one came in at number nine with 113,000 copies sold.

“I was a little disturbed by my first week numbers but a lot of things went into that first week number,” said Ne-Yo during a recent interview. “The album getting leaked a month in advance definitely had something to do with it. That was another situation where I jumped on my soapbox and let the world know how I felt about it.”

“You know, it’s the world we live in today, it’s a game. You either play the game or you get out. I’m not gonna let the ignorance of some stop me from doing what I feel like I was put on this earth to do.”

Beautiful Monster, the lead single for the LP didn’t perform well stateside, peaking at number 53 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was successful in the UK where it took the top spot.