Biography of Trey Songz
“Success can be a dangerous drug, it definitely changes people, and it can take you to another world, if you allow it to.
” Said the one and only Tremaine Aldon Neverson, otherwise known as “Mr. Steal Yo Girl” or Trey Songz. Trey was born on November 28, 1984. He is best known for his hit song; Can’t Help But Wait, which was released on October 6, 2007. The Virginia native has been keeping up with his game since 2005 and is still going strong. He’s mainly looked up to Rap influences such as Jay-Z, R.
Kelly, Biggie Smalls, and Nas. Trey is one of many new artists to be a triple threat in the industry similar to Chris Brown. This year, he’ll be expanding his career and will be appearing in one of the greatest American horror movies created; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D. He’ll be playing Clint Eastwood’s youngest son, Scott Eastwood. The movie is said to be released in late 2012. As a new rap artist, trey is already creating a successful and keeping his options open.
Trey was born and raised in Petersburg, Virginia. He lived with his mother, April Tucker. She was a single mother until she got married to a member of the U.S. Army in 1991; Trey was only seven at the time.
Trey and his parents were frequently moving to different parts of the country, due to the fact that his stepfather was placed and stationed at different military bases. In 1998, Trey and his family moved back to Petersburg. This is where Trey attended Petersburg High School. He was just a normal teenager; playing basketball, going to parties, and usually getting dragged to church by his grandmother on early Sunday mornings . As Trey mentioned in one of his interviews with A Networks, he started finding himself during his freshman year.
Later on in his freshman year, his friends persuaded Trey to tryout for the school talent show. He eventually made it in. There was only one problem. His mother was very terrified that he would be booed off stage. So, to save Trey from possible humiliation, she brought a twenty- person support team to cheer him on if he was booed.
Luckily, the crowd absolutely loved him! He even got a standing ovation. Throughout his freshman year he would sing, but never really considered it a career. Trey also says that he never -had any type of vocal lessons, but used the radio as a guide. Later in his high school years, Trey decided to take a trip to New Jersey to meet up with a producer named Troy Taylor. The two compromised a deal to sign him when he finished high school. As Trey eagerly waited until graduation day, he and a couple of other friends decided to create a vocal group called “All Night Productions”.
The group was entirely made to keep Trey’s interest and skills in music. Four years later, Trey successfully graduated and eventually got signed with a $100,000 contract with Atlantic Records in 2003. About two years ago, Trey finally came out with his first album: I Gotta Make It. The album was a success, selling over 395,000 copies. In addition, the album made its way up to the 20th spot on the Billboards Album Chart.
Before anything, Trey made a promise to his mother, that he would buy her a house if he were to become famous. Luckily, Trey was fortunate enough to get signed with Atlantic Records. And as said, the promise was kept and a new house was bought. Later in 2007, Trey released his new album: Trey Day. His hit single Can’t Help But Wait managed to claim the number 11 spot on the Billboards Chart. Passing by another two years and jumping into 2009, Trey released his third album, Ready.
This album took fifteen jumps to the number 3 spot. Not only that, but Trey decided that it was time for an image change. Unfortunately, the very famous cornrow braids were chopped and shaved off. Then, he traded in his baggy clothes for clean, cut, sharp, button down shirts, polo’s, fitted pants, and loafers. By the end of 2009, Trey had six hit singles including: LOL Smiley Face (Featuring Soulja Boy), Successful (Featuring Drake), Say Aah (Featuring Fabulous) and three others.
In late 2010, Trey came out with his brand new album, Passion, Pain, Pleasure. This album consists of some new tastes, like a little rock, but mainly stays on his path of Hip-Hop, R&B, and soul. Just like any other artist, Trey has appeared in many music videos wheater it was singing or just a guest appearance. For instance, the 27 year old has appeared in music videos such as: Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent (2008), Chris Brown’s Yo (Excuse Me Miss) [2005], Young Jeezy’s Vacation (2008), Lupe Fiasco’s Out Of My Head (2011), J. Cole’s Can’t Get Enough (2011), Diddy- Dirty Money’s Your Love (2011), and many others.
Recently in November 2011, Trey released two mix tapes, #LemmeHoldThatBeat 2 (which was a follow-up from #LemmeHoldThatBeat that released in 2010), and Anticipation 2 (which was another follow-up from the 2009 mix tape, Anticipation). Not only has Trey been very successful with his music career, but he never fails to thank the millions of people who helped him rise to fame; his fans. Trey created a fan club called “Trey’s Angels”. The fan club is a premium-member package that has a monthly charge of $30. Trey also created a foundation back in 2008, called “Songz for Peace”.
Since Petersburg had a very high percentage of crime, mainly teens/young adults. Trey made this foundation to raise awareness and try to calm down the situation by trying to stop violence among young people and to spread a positive message. Today, Trey is strongly maintaining his image by collaborating with many artists for instance on his last music video, he collaborated with Fabulous with What I Be On off of his Anticipation 2 album. Trey also plans to come out with a new album in the near future.
