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Trey Songz (born Tremaine Aldon Neverson in Petersburg, Virginia on November 28, 1984) is a American contemporary R&B singer and songwriter. His debut album was Gotta Make It, released by Atlantic Records in 2005. Inspired musically by R&B artists from the 1960s and 1970s such as Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin as well as contemporary artists such as Luther Vandross and R. Kelly, the young star debuted in 2005.

Biography and music career

Early life and discovery

Growing up in the city of Petersburg, VA,Trey Songz did not always have a musical career in mind. When he was a child he did not receive any rigorous voice or piano lessons but instead was engaged in the normal activities for a child of his age. His mother, however, seeing his ability, encouraged him to develop his singing talent by entering local talent shows, many of which he won. With these victories he began to make a name for himself. By age 15, Songz’s notoriety enabled him to meet his producer and mentor Troy Taylor, a veteran music producer who has worked with artists such as Patti Labelle, Lionel Richie, & Whitney Houston. Impressed by the tenor's voice, Taylor encouraged him to focus on a career in popular music. During the summer Troy and Trey would go to New York and New Jersey to work on songs and recordings.

Trey Songz moved to Teaneck, New Jersey after graduating from Petersburg High School to focus solely on music. Taylor, in turn, focused on teaching his protégé music history. "We would go to the New York studio every day, and during the drive, he’d play me all sorts of stuff, like Steely Dan," recalls Trey. "When it came time to learn about falsetto, he’d play me Prince. When it came time to learn about soul, he’d play me Motown." Trey eventually became Taylor’s vocal production assistant. Working with other artists in the studio gave Trey valuable technical experience, and prepared the young singer for his own career.

In 2004 Songz inked a deal with Atlantic Records, whose rich R&B history made it the ideal home for his unique blend of contemporary R&B and classic soul. Atlantic founding chairman Ahmet Ertegün, who co-founded the label in 1947, hailed the young singer as one of the most promising stars to ever sign with the label and an heir to the legacy of such Atlantic greats as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding.

Road to stardom

The first single from the album was "Just Gotta Make It", which peaked at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and only number 21 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs tally. More recently, Songz has garnered greater notoriety and increased album sales due to his collaboration with Twista on "Girl Tonite", a song from Twista's album The Day After which reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs tally.

He wrote and co-produced music for soca artist Kevin Lyttle’s self-titled debut in 2004 and was featured on the Soundtrack to "Coach Carter" and albums by Trick Daddy, Gerald Levert, and Juvenile. Trey Songz was also featured on Twista’s 2005 album The Day After.

Trey Songz is also very good friends with teenage R&B singer Chris Brown. Trey can be seen in the music video for Chris' second single "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)". Likewise Chris Brown can be seen in the music video for Trey's second single "Gotta Go"

In April 2006, Trey collaborated with bilingual Japanese R&B/Hip-Hop artist AI on her single Believe, with the track Beautiful feat. Trey Songz. The duo even performed this track live at the MTV Awards in Japan, where AI won the award for 'Best R&B Music Video' for her ballad-single, Story. The song was later remixed and appeared on AI's album What's goin' on A.I., released September 2006. Trey can also be heard on Why You Wanna Remix by T.I..

By the end of 2006 Trey made a collaboration with the ex member of "Kabah" (the Mexican pop band) Maria Jose, the single is called "Quien eres tu" and we can hear Trey Songz practicing a little Spanish. The song is gained much airplay and digital sales in Mexico and Latin America and has grown to become Trey's most successful song in the Spanish-speaking world.

Trey recently began work on his upcoming album Trey Day, which is a follow up to Gotta make it and will be his second album under Atlantic Records. It is set to be released June 12th 2007. The first single is "Wonder Woman" was shot on April 4th and will feature Angel aka "Lola Luv" as Trey's love interest.

Trey also appeared on Obie Trice's second album, Second Round's on Me on two songs called "Ghetto" and "Mama." He is also expected to appear on Young Buck's new album Buck the World. Because of the new connections with such Shady/Aftermath/G-Unit associated artists, it is possible Trey will be featured on future projects from these artists too. Trey is also featured on Lil Eazy-E's upcoming single "This Ain't a Game", along with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, where he sings the hook. He also appears on Yung Joc's "First Time".

Discography

Albums

• (2005) I Gotta Make It
• (2007) Trey Day

Solo singles

Featured singles

External links

• Trey Songz Official Website
• Trey Songz at MySpace
• Trey Songz Lyrics
• Musicsnippet Profile
• Making It - Interview with Trey Songz
• Trey Songz Internet Movie Database

1. MTV Japan Official Website

• Articles lacking sources from December 2006
• 1984 births
• African-American singers
• American male singers
• American rappers
• American rhythm and blues singers
• Living people
• People from Virginia
• Virginia musicians