RIHANNA - RIHANNA GETS VOCAL LESSONS FROM NE-YO

R+B star RIHANNA is making sure super songwriter NE-YO earns his salary while they're working on new tunes in the studio - he's also giving her vocal lessons. The Barbados-born singer has been floored by her latest collaborator's talents and she has made sure his skills help her hit the high notes. She tells MTV News, "He is such a genius. I've never had vocal training, so when I'm in the studio, he'll tell me how to breathe and stuff. "He'll call out these big fancy words: 'OK, I want you to do staccato.' And I'm like, 'OK, I don't know what that is.'" Rihanna is in good company - Ne-Yo is also writing new songs for BRITNEY SPEARS and WHITNEY HOUSTON's comeback albums, and the IRREPLACEABLE anthem he wrote for BEYONCE KNOWLES recently spent 10 weeks atop the US singles chart.