R&B singer Trey Songz is opening, along with Young Jeezy, for Jay-Z’s national Blueprint 3 Tour which stops at the Staples Center on March 26. Since being signed to Atlantic Records in 2005, Trey Songz has collaborated with various musical artists, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Can’t Help but Wait” (2008) and Best Contemporary R&B Album for “Ready” (2009) Trey Songz spoke with The Daily Bruin’s Maryia Krivoruchko about his performance on the tour, his recent visit with President Obama, his message for the youth and his upcoming projects.
Daily Bruin: Can you tell me a little bit about what we can expect from you during the Staples Center show of the (BP3) tour?
Trey Songz: You can expect the old and new. I’ve gotten a lot more popular within the last year and a half, so you’ll hear a lot from the album “Ready” that’s doing very well right now. You’ll hear my latest singles, “Neighbors Know My Name,” “Say Ahh,” “I Invented Sex,” and you’ll hear my earlier singles.
DB: How is “Ready” a representation of your growth as an artist (since the release of “I Gotta Make It” in 2005?)
TS: I feel that it’s the album that basically carved my spot out in the game. It’s the album that’s the most definitive of who I am as a person and who I want to be perceived as an artist. I think the first two albums were great but I don’t think they embodied everything that this album does, as far as the aspect of the diversity, the ability to reach so many different demographics musically.
DB: You’ve collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry today ““ Drake, Gucci Mane and Toni Braxton. If you had to choose just one artist you would want to collaborate with on your next record, who would it be?
TS: Jay-Z. How about that, baby? I always wanted to work with Jay. We’re out here on the road and we got a lot of opportunities so maybe we’ll record something.
DB: You also recently took a trip with Jay-Z to meet with President Obama at the White House ““ was this the moment when you knew you really made it huge, or was it long before then?
TS: When you walk in the White House, you’ve got to be somebody to sit in the Oval Office with President Obama. So I guess I feel like I made it in some kind of way. There’s some kind of justification … it was definitely an experience that left me humbled. Even though it is an experience that signifies making it or being big, it just put me in a place where … it made me want to do more for the youth. Just to let youth know … anything is possible.
DB: About two years ago, you started the philanthropic youth-oriented organization “Songz For Peace” which educates teens about violence. What is the message that you want to spread to college students from UCLA who plan to attend the show?
TS: The message that I would spread to the college students, whatever it is you would want your profession to be is to take it very seriously, and to never give up. Never give up or take anything for granted. Never get too high or too low ““ you can reach a certain level of success, you get too high on yourself and (you) come tumbling down before you know it. Remain humble and just be a hard worker. Hard work always pays off.
DB: Any new mixtapes or albums you’re working on right now?
TS: Definitely ““ “Instrumental Killer” ““ getting on peoples’ tracks and taking their songs … I have fun doing that, so that will be a mixtape coming out soon. I have some features coming up ““ a record with Ludacris that I love, titled “Sex Room.” (I want) to have my own tour before my album drops ““ I will have another album out this year.
E-mail Krivoruchko at mkrivoruchko@media.ucla.edu