“Make some noise, London, it is officially the year of the gentlemen,” said R ’n’ B star Ne-Yo to a Hammersmith Apollo crowd who screamed in agreement.

The 28-year-old Las Vegan, who topped the singles chart earlier this year with Closer, is on a one-man mission to bring a touch of class to a genre of bling and braggadocio. His recent album — aptly titled Year of the Gentleman — is a hit-packed delight set to cement Ne-Yo’s place among R ’n’ B’s aristocracy.

Last night, though, it took a while for this gentlemen to appear. Ne-Yo spent the first half of his two-hour show firmly in ego mode. When he wasn’t throwing his sweaty towels into the crowd, he was reminding them of the songs he’d written for other people, lest we mistake the successful producer and songwriter for being a lowly vocalist.

Assured that we knew the scale of his genius, Ne-Yo got down to business. With a soulful tenor that echoed Stevie Wonder, he was spell-binding on So You Can Cry, the standout track from the recent album. Elsewhere, Ne-Yo dedicated Miss Independent “to the kind of woman that pays her own rent” (and presumably the kind that will buy the merchandise he kept plugging).

A pounding encore of Nobody echoed the disco-funk of Michael Jackson, as did the angle of Ne-Yo’s strategically placed white trilby. Exiting the stage, Ne-Yo threw this into the crowd, too. Hats off, indeed.