Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by
his stage name Trey Songz, is an American recording artist, producer
and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005,
while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third
album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album,
Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.
Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in
Petersburg, Virginia.[1] Raised as a military brat, Songz did not
have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness,
saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people
started noticing I sounded good."[2] He recognized his vocal
abilities at the age of 14 in 1998.[2] Reluctant to sing, he began
performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school.
Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show
in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic
Records in 2002.[2] After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz
moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording
didn't actually begin until 2003.[1]
2004–2006: I Gotta Make It
While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple
mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia.[1] One of the mixtapes
featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped
in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song
gave Trey some notoriety.[3]
His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005.[4]
It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in
its first week of sales.[5] It has sold 300,000 records in the US,
but was never certified by the RIAA.
Songz's debut single, Gotta Make It, featuring Twista, was released
in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on
the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban
community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's
second and final single, Gotta Go, was released in July 2005 and
reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the
R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion
for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from
Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite",
reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, becoming a huge hit.
2007–2008: Trey Day
Trey Songz performing in 2007.
In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut
with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers
Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly
to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented
than his debut album.
His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007.
The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200,[6] selling 73,000 copies
in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming
his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going
to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order
for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single
failed to impact charts.
His sophomore album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder
Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54
on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the
Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed
from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't
Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released
to promote his second album and the film Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack
as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2
on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top
20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales.
The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards.
The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released
in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the
album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed
to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award
for Best Male R&B Artist but didn't win the award.[7]
2009–2010: Ready
In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael
Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record
to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third
album, Songz released a mixtape titled Anticipation in June 2009
through his blog, which featured songs from his third album.[8] Another
mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called Genesis.
Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he
was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication
that he had to making a record when he was young.[9]
Trey released his third studio album, Ready, on August 31, 2009.
The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies
in its first week.[10] These are his best first week sales to date
and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard
200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning
a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his
first album to be certified by the RIAA.
The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released
in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart
and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B/urban hit but not a mainstream
hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper
Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100,
becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the
second and final single from Drake's EP, So Far Gone.
The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley
Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released
in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I
Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009
and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the
first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B/urban
community but only some mainstream success. charted within the Billboard
Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart. The fourth single from the
album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released
in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single
on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fifth and final single from the
album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February
2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was
going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due
to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson,
was filmed and released, however.
Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour
in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B
Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's
I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of
MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010.[11] A documentary-series
about Trey, Trey Songz: My Moment, began in June 2010 to positive
reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010
and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z
Fall Tour in late 2009.
2010–present: Passion, Pain & Pleasure
Trey's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released
on September 14, 2010.[12] Trey began work on the album in early
2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that
the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed
in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring
female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has
reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart
and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on
ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending
release.[13] Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't
Be Friends", on August 1, 2010.[13] "Can't Be Friends" was
released as the album's second single in August 2010.[13]
Trey embarked on the Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour on August
6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour
to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000
people.
Trey also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the
Step Up 3D soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed
a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading
lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen
Gedlu.
Trey Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September
12, 2010.[14]
Discography
Main article: Trey Songz discography
* I Gotta Make It (2005)
* Trey Day (2007)
* Ready (2009)
* Passion, Pain & Pleasure (2010)
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Queen of Media DJ I.V. film
2009 Lincoln Heights Himself Episode: "Relative Unknown"
2010 Preacher's Kid (film) small role
2010 When I Was 17 Himself Interview-like show, about what he did
when he was 17
2010 Trey Songz: My Moment Himself Interview-Documentary show, following
him around on tour with Jay-Z.
Awards and nominations
Year Award Result
2008 BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist[7] Nominated
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Can't
Help but Wait"[15] Nominated
Ozone Award for Best R&B Artist[16] Nominated
2009 Soul Train Awards for Best Collaboration "Successful" Nominated
2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album for "Ready" Nominated
BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist Won
BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous
Nominated
BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Successful" w/ Drake
Nominated
BET Award for Viewer's Choice for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous
Nominated