Source: WENN
It’s been nearly a decade since Trey Songz emerged on the scene with “I Gotta Make It.” 9+ years later and on the heels of his sixth album release, Trey confidently boasts that he did things his way this time around. Fans can be assured that “Trigga” is the Virginia native’s “most honest” album to date. We were recently able to catch up with the beloved R&B crooner with the million dollar smile for an extremely honest and straightforward interview, where he dished on dating obstacles, love, his desire to start a family and reconciling with August Alsina following their highly publicized falling-out.
MN: You had an amazing performance at the BET Awards last night. We were happy to see you and August Alsina reunite on stage. How did that reunion come about considering that highly publicized falling out you two had?
Trey: You know, with the publicizing of August’s emotions a few months ago, I never wanted to respond to that in a negative light. One thing that I’ve realized over the last couple of years, you know stepping into the game is that we gotta work together. We gotta uplift one another. We can’t bring each other down. I understood August’s frustration. As a young artist doing a million interviews and people only asking you about this other n*gga, you know? After 40 interviews, you gonna pop off at some point. He ain’t mean all of that stuff he said. We had conversations about it. So when it came time to think about how we could put together an incredible performance, it was nothing. Aside from me and August at BET, it was Chris there. It was Usher. It was the Lionel Richie tribute. Missy came out. It was so many different generations of music and R&B in the building. It just felt right.
MN: In the past, you expressed a desire to be seen as a multidimensional individual as well as for your talent, as opposed to just a sex symbol or a “piece of meat” as you put it. Does being viewed in that light make dating more complicated for you?
Trey: It does a little bit. First of all, sometimes I just wanna kick it. I wanna chill out. If I’m dealing with somebody, they wanna have sex talking about how I do this, that and the other. They’re like, ‘It’s a cut right here. What’s up?’ That’s kind of crazy. Because I am so sexually viewed, when I’m actually interested in somebody, that’s the last thing on my mind. When I feel somebody for the person that they are, I love their conversation and I love being around them and I ain’t really tripping off of sex. Sex is something that for me, when you’re viewed as a sex symbol or however you want to put it, you know it’s an object. It’s whatever. It doesn’t hold as much value—to me. When I fall in love and making love, I’m all down for that. It does get a little tricky because you don’t know what people’s motives are. But it’s cool because I put myself in that position.
MN: It was very thoughtful of you to send all of those flowers to Nicki Minaj. You sort of flooded out her studio with them. If that’s how you’re handling a business relationship, I can only imagine what you’d do for someone who you’re in love with. Would you consider yourself to be the romantic type?
Trey: Oh, most definitely. When I’m in love with somebody, you’re going to feel it. You’re going to know it. Nicki has really taken control of her destiny and she has for so long. She’s at the point where she’s the hottest she’s ever been and for us to do a record right now, it’s amazing. Outside of that, it’s her. It’s her brand as a woman. What she got going on is dope to sit back and look at. She’s literally in this predominately male-based business and she’s running sh*t. That should be applauded.
MN: Is there someone special in your life right now?
Trey: I got somebody that I care about, but we’re not at that place. We ain’t even dealing with each other like that. For me, I’m focused on becoming a legend and making sure musically, I handle mine. Outside of that, I’m not looking for love, but I do want it one day. I want somebody to fall in love with, have kids with, all of that. But I don’t wanna rush that. I don’t wanna get to a place where I rush it and that’s not it. I want to be able to have kids and watch them grow up and see them say their first words.
Source: WENN
MN: Would you consider “Trigga” to be your most intimate album?
Trey: I consider it to be my most honest album. It’s really about what’s happening right now and the experiences I’m going through right now in love and relationships and when I’m not in love and relationships. The thing with R&B singers is that you’re really expected to be in love with somebody. And for myself, I’m definitely expected to put out those sensual ballads every time around. This time, I kind of strayed away from it a little bit. This album has a lot of tempo and it shows a different side of me. You know, I still keep the R&B alive and still really staying true to my R&B core, but I’m kind of going a little bit left with that. You know, mixing a little bit of what I do with what’s going on right now in music. As far as production is concerned, you know how you hear Katy Perry and Juicy J on trap joints, but it goes pop? You hear Mike Will Made It on a track with Miley Cyrus, but it goes pop. So with this album, I kind of just stayed true to what’s going on right now and it was kind of easy to do because I made the album while I was actually living my life. I didn’t have deadlines or A&Rs over my head every second or my label heads like, ‘What’s going on? We need to approve this, that and the other.’ It’s the most creative control that I’ve ever had.
MN: You once expressed that each album that you’ve put out so far was sort of a reflection of the phase of your life that you were in at the time that you recorded it. How would describe the phase that you were in when putting out this new project?
Trey: I mean, the stage that I was in when making this album is that I was chilling. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t have to be on tour. As an artist when you’re coming up and trying to get into the game, it’s different from when you’re established and you got your own money and your family is situated and taken care of. It’s different. I’m more financially stable than I’ve ever been. My younger brothers both just graduated high school a couple of years ago so they’re now in college and have become young men, versus being teenagers that I gotta call and check in on with my mama, you know what I mean? As far as pressure is concerned making an album, I put all of the pressure on myself to make the best album that I could—not to make a better album than this artist or that artist. It was more so me competing with myself and trying to make an album that stayed true to what it was. I was living what I was feeling. I was unapologetic. There are one night stands. There are some relationships that I’ve been in where I f*cked up. It’s relationships that I’ve been in where I’m still best friends with the girl that I was in a relationship with. I have a song that’s titled “What’s Best For You” and it’s like, if I can’t give you whatever you need, then I want what’s best for you regardless—even if it isn’t me. Then, there’s another song where I’m like, ‘sh*t, where you going? You’re not supposed to leave me—ever—no matter what I’m doing. It’s kind of just giving you every emotion.
MN: Can you tell me about your partnership with Target and what fans can expect to get on the deluxe edition of “Trigga?”
Trey: Definitely, special shout out to Target for stepping in and becoming a partner on this album. The thing is when I do an album, I record a large number of songs. On the standard album, it’s 13 songs. Then, on the deluxe album, there’s 17. Target gave me the chance to put three more, so it makes it a little bit easier to not part ways with songs that you love. The tone of those records are definitely matching up with the album, while still having different messages.
The exclusive deluxe edition of “Trigga” is in stores today.
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