August 15, 2005 @ 10:34 am

Prince of Virginia: Trey Songz

by: Clover Hope

VIBE.COM: I want to talk about this mixtape thing you’re doing, because it’s not a traditional route for R&B singers. Why have you taken that path? Trey Songz: ‘Cause I ain’t no traditional R&B singer. [Laughs] That’s what I grew up listening to—mixtapes. I was into hip hop, so it ain’t hard for me to jump on a hip hop beat and make a song. That’s easy for me. It’s second nature. And once I got into it, I loved it. Like you said, ‘it’s something different.’ Ain’t nobody else doing it, and I feel like can’t nobody else do it the way I do it. Has it helped you get your name out? Yeah, it did. It really did, extremely. I go places I ain’t never been and they ask me to do mixtape songs. I’m like, ‘Can I do some of the songs off the album?’ And they ask me to do mixtape songs. So it definitely helps. So how does that work for you—getting onto mixtapes? What’s the process? Once you get hot, DJs find you. I started off with my boy DJ Radio—big shout out to Radio and Streetsweeper. He was the only DJ spinning it for a long time, like a couple months, and then other DJs started picking up on me before I was known. I had a deal and all that, but for me it was just respect. People knew what I was capable of. What do you think is the appeal of mixtapes over other markets? The appeal of mixtapes is just, it’s the streets. You ain’t gotta go to the store to get mixtapes. They touch people that you wouldn’t even know they could. And now with the Internet, it’s open to a whole ‘nother world. New York City is the mixtape capital, so I’m known here solely based on mixtapes. A lot of people [heard me] before they knew what I looked like. I get a lot of love. On the mixtapes, you have this personality, the Prince of Virginia, right? I mean, that’s what I am all day, every day. It’s an alter ego at the same time, but I’m the Prince of Virginia all the time. What kind of influence does Virginia have on your music? There are a lot of producers, like Timbaland, Missy, and Pharrell, coming out of there. I ain’t work with none of them [but] they’re cool. There are times that I love ‘em to death, but I’m from a different part of Virginia than where they’re from. It’s like an hour and a half down the road. Would you like to work with any of them? Yeah, definitely. I respect what they’re doing. I think they’re very talented, especially Timbaland and Pharrell. They’re crazy—two legendary producers straight from Virginia. So I’d love to work with them. Do you think there’s a special sound or style that Virginia produces? I wouldn’t say it’s a sound per say. I think it’s more so just talent. I wouldn’t say it’s a sound that they have, [like] how Crunk has a sound. Neptunes got they own sound, Timbaland got his own sound. I got my own. Like anywhere else in the world, there’s talent to be found there. Right. You did R. Kelly’s song “Trapped in the Closet” from the perspective of the guy on the other side of the closet. How did that come about? Mixtapes. I mean, I heard it, I loved it. I did it for a mixtape and then it got to a point where radio picked it up. ‘Cause that’s what I do. R. Kelly is a major influence on me musically, and when I heard it I was like, ‘That’s just ingenious.’ I was in love with it. And this was before I knew about two through five. It came out right around the time my single came out, so I didn’t know it would get as big as it did, but it did, and it was just something for me to do. I read that R. Kelly had a problem with the song. Was that an issue? Nah, it wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t a major issue. He didn’t have problems? Yeah, he was mad but it wasn’t an issue. Ain’t no issues. With [R. Kelly] saying there’ll be six through ten now, do you plan to do more? Nah, I ain’t messing with that dude anymore, not with them songs. I mean, ain’t no limit to what I do, though. I don’t care who you are, what song you got out, I’ll do your song in a second. What the people do, that’s up to them. You mentioned R. Kelly being your influence. Can you talk about that? I love R. Kelly, since I’ve been listening to music. I think he’s a genius singer/songwriter. He’s in the ‘hood and on the pop charts, so as far as that goes, I think he’s conquered all he had to conquer and he’s still doing more to this day. I think his mind works outside of the musical element. And what about your own projects outside of singing? I write all my music. I produced a couple of tracks on the album, and I write for other artists. Can you talk about your album? Does it have a narrative thread or theme? Well, it’s just, ‘I gotta make it.’ That’s what it’s called, that’s what it is. I gotta make it— ain’t no ifs, ands, buts about it. I’m happy to be here, just where I am. Just sitting here in this office talking to you. This was always a dream to me. It was always something that I couldn’t see happening, until I met my producer and he made it more a reality. But for me, this was far out. I’m from Petersburg, Va. So to be doing what I’m doing now, people loving me all across the world, I’m just blessed. I gotta make it through—outside of just me having to make it and saying that that’s what I wanna do—for other people no matter where you are, who you are or where you came from, wherever you’re trying to go, you can get there. Last question. Where do you see yourself in music in a couple of years? Standing alone. No questions, no comparisons. None of that. Just Trey Songz. I see myself doing my thang. Just like I started right now, but on another level.

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Article tags: R. Kelly, Trapped In The Closet, Trey Songz, Prince Of Virginia 

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