TREY SONGZ – FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO A POWERFUL CAREER
Since 2005 Trey Songz has been on the radar of R&B fans. Legend has it that Songz didn’t even notice his vocal talents until his friends pointed out that he sounded good. Having roots in Petersburg, Virginia, this 14 year old and slightly shy kid did not have any musical aspirations until his friends and family started encouraging him to perform in his high school and in talent shows. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a similar talent show in the year 2000 and got him to enter into a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
His first album ‘I Gotta Make it’, which was released in 2005, debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. His second album ‘Trey Day’ reached #11 on the Billboard 200 and sold 400,000 records in the US. The album featured collaborations with the likes of Jim Jones, Yung Joc & Bun B and included hit singles like Wonder Woman”, “Can`t Help But Wait”, “Last Time” & “Missin You’. Trey Songz’ song ‘Can’t help but wait’ reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and got nominated for the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards.
In 2009, Songz released his third studio album “Ready” which had songs featuring Drake, Fabolous & Soulja Boy and included some of the best Trey Songz music videos like “I Need A Girl”, “Lol”, “I Invented Sex”, “Say Aah” and “Successful”. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Album charts, selling 131,000 copies in its first week of release. Another phenomenal Trey Songz music video featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, for the single ‘Yo side of the bed’. The album won him a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010. An assortment of major awards followed, including the prestigious title of “Best Male R&B Artist” at the 2010 BET Awards.
His next album ‘ Passion, Pain and Pleasure’ was released on September 14, 2010, debuting at number two on the Billboard album charts selling 240,000 copies in its first week of release. The album featured boasted of some high profile collaborations with star like Drake & rap sensation Nicki Minaj amongst others and spawned the hit singles ‘Bottoms Up” featuring rap star Nicki Minaj, the love ballad “Can`t Be Friends”, “Unusual” and “Love Faces”.
The highly anticipated fifth studio album of the singer-‘Chapter 5’ is expected to release in 2012 and is rumored to feature collaborations with some of the biggest hip hop stars in the industry. Meanwhile, Songz is already transforming his talent into other avenues as well. In July 2011, he was cast in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D as the male lead.
The late, great Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun once declared Trey to be “among the most promising R&B artists we have had on Atlantic since we started the company 60 years ago.” Well it is needless to say that this R&B sensation has long fulfilled that promise.
Interested in some of the latest Trey Songz songs, hottest music videos, latest music news & gossip, then visit Urban-Nation.com!
About the Author:
James Griffith is a freelance writer from London specialising in writing hiphop r&b music and uk grime music articles. Over the years he has developed an extensive knowledge of urban music and urban music artists and is considered one of the leading authorities on this subject. With a passion for Hip hop and R&B music since childhood, James Griffith brings great knowledge and a great understanding of this exciting music genre and his articles are both informative and entertaining too.
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