By now, Ne-Yo is a GRAMMY veteran. Since 2007, he has been nominated thirteen times. With three GRAMMY trophies on his shelf, he has advice for new nominees who are hoping to snag their first big win. 

“Advice I would have for new artists getting nominated for a GRAMMY is to understand the nomination alone is a victory,” he told Radio.com. “Of all the artists that are doing it…they shouted your name out, you got the nod.”

Of the “Best New Artist” Nominees (The Alabama Shakes, Fun., Hunter Hayes, The Lumineers, and Frank Ocean) Ne-Yo has given Ocean, his fellow R&B singer, his own nod of approval. 

“The emergence of Frank Ocean has shined a much-needed light on the R&B community,” he said. “I applaud him for making music good enough to open peoples’ eyes to the genre that is on life support. As far as his nomination, I hope he does get something. I’m a fan of Frank Ocean stuff. I feel his take on R&B is fresh. It has an element of tradition, an element of the old, but there is definitely some nuance in there. I never heard an R&B artists reference  Dragonball Z.”

But his advice extends beyond Ocean to anyone with their eyes on the big prize. 

“You need to understand that only one person is going to walk away with the GRAMMY and the fact that you got that recognition above all these other artsits that didn’t, understand that is your victory,” he said. “A lot of people don’t take the nomination as I feel they should…You gotta look at your victories for what they are.” 

Ne-Yo’s “Let’s Go” (with Calvin Harris) is nominated for a GRAMMY for “Best Dance Recording.” But his GRAMMY collection is still coming up short.

“Two of them are at [my] house,” the singer recently told 93.7′s (Hartford) Hot Morning Crew. “The first one ever is with my mom. She’s not giving it back. I tried to get it back when I moved into my house and she was like ‘No!’”

Check out the 55 Annual GRAMMYs on Sunday (February 10) at 8/7c. –Erik Parker, Radio.com