Trey Songz took part in a detailed discussion for the latest issue of Billboard magazine. During the interview the singer revealed why most of his newer material is based on sex rather than the artistic depth of his 1st 2 albums. Songz’s new album, ‘Passion, Pain & Pleasure’, hits stores on September 14th. Check out what he had to say below:
“The public likes generic more than they like to admit, so that’s what I gave them — I gave them sexual singles and they ate it up,” Songz says about the string of blatantly sexed-up hits from ‘Ready‘. “I gave them two whole albums before this one — on one I talked about a mother’s love for her son and a father not being there, and on the other I made a song about safe sex. They were well accepted but not as much as the records on ‘Ready.’ The singles were purposely very sexual to capture people’s attention.”
Songz didn’t find it compromising to peddle sex to become a bigger star. In fact, he feels “Ready” wasn’t any more sexual than his previous albums.
“People say this album was highly sexual, but the first two albums were just as sexual,” he says. “If you listen to the ‘Ready’ album, there’s ‘Love Lost’, ‘Black Roses’, ‘Yo Side of the Bed’ — all songs that had nothing to do with sex, but were overlooked because they weren’t the first few singles.”
“I knew ‘I Invented Sex’ was career-defining. After that leaked, the rough mix started playing on radio,” Songz says. “I prepared for ‘Say Aah’ to be a big record — I knew it would be huge. So when it came to shooting the video for ‘I Invented Sex’ I split the budget for ‘Say Aah.’ I think those steps were imperative to the success of this album.” {Source}
So in other words Songz decided to do anything it took to get a hit? While it is understandable that he wanted to take his music in a different direction and enjoy higher levels of success with ‘Ready’, he has to yet to explain why he has chosen to do the same with ‘Passion, Pain & Pleasure’. It seems that Songz either enjoys objectifying the bodies of women in his songs or he is afraid to return to the meager position in the industry that he once occupied as an artist of actual integrity.
This is exactly why Songz might never achieve the level of respect that R. Kelly and others have accomplished in the past. Instead of seeking balance in his music and trying to inspire his listeners to do something other than ‘say ahh’, he has gotten comfortable with his new routine. Diversity is what separates gold-certified artists from those that achieve multi-platinum status. Remember that.
Take it away Prince.