Album Review: Trey Songz, Trigga

Trey Songz

Trigga (to be released July 1, 2014)

We all know sex sells, and that’s good news for R&B lothario Trey Songz. He won’t have a shortage of funds for his late-night escapades.

And judging by the content of his sixth album, Trigga, all my fellow Virginian wants to do is “f***, drink and sleep.”

Seriously, that’s a direct quote from the track “All We Do.”

Trey’s evolution from soulful boy-next-door to bad-boy sex symbol over the past decade has certainly widened his fan base, with 2009’s Ready being his crowning achievement. Trigga doesn’t come close to that level of artistry though, instead ramping up the debauchery to keep fans entertained.

“Cake” swipes a line from J. Cole (“can’t have your cake and eat it too, but ain’t that what you’re supposed to do?”) and uses transparent metaphors to set up his plans for the evening – “once I blow the candles out, put in my face.” As ridiculous as the lyrics are, the track is catchy enough to have slight amount of endearing charm.

The bounce of “Touchin, Lovin” and midtempo groove “Disrespectful” are equally infectious despite their inherent ratchetness. Don’t believe me? On the latter, Trey’s unapologetic, running around in another man’s slippers while guest Mila J brags about Trey using up her boyfriend’s condomns while she does Trey’s laundry.

This is black love in 2014, ladies and gentlemen.

“Dead Wrong” is probably the worst offender – Trey belittles women who ditch their men to sleep with him (“I swear these hoes triflin'”) but he jumps at the chance to welcome them in his bedroom.

Even though the content is questionable, most of the aforementioned songs are like an episode of Maury – immensely entertaining. The rest of the album isn’t quite as appealing.

Trey sounds like he’s in cruise control on “Na Na” and “Foreign,” watered-down versions of his previous club hits. Even the addition of Justin Bieber on the “Foreign” Remix, which should have been something different, sounds too identical to its lackluster predecessor.

During the last half of the album, Trey goes from reckless to remorseful as his partying antics catch up to him. “SmartPhones,” the only track resembling a traditional ballad, has a good premise (an errant pocket dial unveils his infidelity) but the song itself is unremarkable. The conflicted “Yes, No, Maybe,” where Trey bounces from remorse for his actions to outright anger at his accuser, is another strong premise that goes to waste. Thankfully, the upbeat “Change Your Mind” ends things on a high note.

Trigga is 45 minutes of thug luv, and Trey’s thirsty fanbase will eat it up. From an artistic standpoint though, Trigga stumbles. It fact, Trigga is pretty much like the one-night-stands the album endorses – decent for an evening but nothing you’d want to revisit.

Best songs: “Touchin, Lovin,” “Disrespectful,” “Cake”

3 stars out of 5