Five years ago, a newly signed Trey Songz couldn’t afford to hire a traveling barber to braid his hair. Instead, he had to resort to locals to keep up his tresses — a circumstance he wasn’t exactly pleased with.
‘I couldn’t maintain one person to do it all the time,’ Songz recalls. ‘I had to find people around town and most of the time I wouldn’t even like them.’
Today, not only is his long hair gone, but Songz’ budget allows for a groomer and a personal stylist to hit the road with him, among other perks. This is in large part due to his sexually charged 2009 album, ‘Ready,’ which has sold 778,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan; spawned five hit singles; and drew favorable comparisons to the past decade’s two most enduring and influential R&B stars, Usher and R. Kelly.
Now, with the release of new album ‘Passion, Pain and Pleasure,’ due Sept. 14 on Songbook/Atlantic Records, the 25-year-old Songz has positioned himself to not only make a run for the crown of King of R&B, but to enjoy the sort of crossover success that consistently and frustratingly eludes so many male R&B singers.
[pagebreak]
I WANNA SEX YOU UP
Before Songz became an arena-touring, multiple-hits-tallying, tossed-panty-attracting star, he was working hard just to get noticed by consumers. The Virginia Beach, Va.-born singer’s debut album, 2005’s ‘Gotta Make It,’ has sold 395,000 U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and 2007’s ‘Trey Day,’ which gave him his first No. 1 hit, ‘Can’t Help but Wait,’ has moved only 344,000 units.
The success of ‘Ready’ came about in part because of the groundwork Songz laid down by steadily touring the country. ‘By the time he wrote for ‘Ready,’ ‘ Atlantic Records Group chairman/COO Julie Greenwald says, ‘he was an accomplished touring artist who knew what audiences wanted from him. His confidence was way up.’
