Shaffer Smith, the artist currently known as Ne-Yo, was born late — about 50 years late, he figures.

"I always refer back to the days of the Rat Pack, because that's when I should have been around," Ne-Yo says, a little wistfully, in a September interview in New York City. "I know how to dress the part."

Entering a hotel restaurant in a crisp white shirt, black jeans and an argyle sweater, a beret perched nattily on his head, the R&B star looks more like a J. Crew model than Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis Jr.

But "being a gentleman isn't about what you wear; it's about how you wear it," he says. "You don't have to put on a three-piece suit. You can be a gentleman in jeans and a T-shirt — if the pants aren't sagging down, and the T-shirt isn't three sizes too big."

Ne-Yo, who performs Monday night at the Blaisdell Arena, is, of course, better known for his musical gifts than his sartorial savvy. As a songwriter, he has crafted monster hits for the likes of Beyoncé ("Irreplaceable") and Rihanna ("Unfaithful," "Take a Bow"). As a recording artist, he released 2006's multiplatinum "In My Own Words," which spawned the smash "So Sick," and last year's platinum-plus "Because of You," which nabbed the Grammy for best contemporary R&B album.

His current CD, "Year of the Gentleman," has garnered six Grammy nominations, including album of the year, best contemporary R&B album and best male pop performance for the chart-topping single "Closer."

Island Def Jam Music Group chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid notes that Ne-Yo already has demonstrated broad appeal. "His first hit ('So Sick') was a pop hit. He has always written great songs, and this album is full of them. But his real growth here is as a performer and a singer. It's creatively in line with albums like Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' and Stevie Wonder's 'Music of My Mind' or 'Talking Book.' "

The 29-year-old artist has cited Wonder, along with Prince, as a role model, and his sweetly fluid tenor has earned comparisons with the young Michael Jackson. But Sinatra and Davis more directly influenced the spirit of "Gentleman." The album is in part an homage to "men who have class and style, charm and charisma, things that have been few and far between" in popular music, Ne-Yo says.

More specifically, "Gentleman" celebrates male chivalry and female autonomy, virtues that are, for Ne-Yo, not mutually exclusive. On "Closer," he's blissfully bewitched by a gal who "shines just like a star." The follow-up single, "Miss Independent," finds him wooing a "woman that can do for herself. ... She got her own thing/That's why I love her."

The new songs were informed by a variety of relationships, but Ne-Yo says his mother was a key source of inspiration. "She is the strongest woman on the face of the planet. I've seen her go through unimaginable obstacles, and you would never know she had a bad day in her life. I know this will sound really cliched, but I need a woman like my mom. That's what 'Miss Independent' is about — a woman that can achieve anything, despite whatever."

Growing up in Las Vegas in a house filled with females — his mom, a grandmother, a sister and five aunts — made Ne-Yo "more sensitive than the average guy," he says. "I wasn't into basketball and football and fixing cars. I was into painting and drawing and poetry."

The young Smith was more ambivalent about singing. "I hated my voice," Ne-Yo admits. "I thought it was too high and tinny and nasal. I wanted to have more of a growl, you know?" His ever-resourceful mother referred him to recordings by Jackson and Wonder. "She said, 'Study these artists, because their tone is similar to yours, and you'll find your own voice.' And sure enough, I did."

Finding his place in the music business proved trickier. Ne-Yo landed a deal with Columbia Records "at 19 or 20. I decided I would let them create me, and in the process I figured out I wasn't the person they wanted me to be."

After his album was shelved, Ne-Yo shifted his focus to writing for other artists, among them Celine Dion, Janet Jackson and Enrique Iglesias. By the time Reid offered him a new recording contract, Ne-Yo says, "I was in a position to say, 'I know you're not going to let me do exactly what I want to do, but I'm not going to do exactly what you want, either. Because I want this, but I don't need it. I've already got a million dollars in my bank account from writing.'

"And L.A. said, 'I signed you because I like what you do.' He wrote me a check and said, 'Here's your recording budget. Come back when you have an album.' He gave me complete control."

His other goals for the future encompass "every aspect of entertainment. I want to write short stories, poems, scripts. I want to do a screenplay and a theater play. I want to do it all."