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Trey Songz
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Also known as	Prince of Virginia
Genres	R&B, soul, hip hop, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer–songwriter, record producer, actor
Instrument(s)	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Atlantic, Songbook
Website	www.treysongz.com

Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, rapper, and actor.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 18, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. Raised as a military brat, Songz was raised in Virginia and the neighboring state of Maryland. As a teen he enjoyed hip-hop music, with R. Kelly being the sole R&B act of his interest. Originally a rising rapper at fourteen, when his friends and family heard his voice, they encouraged him to begin singing instead of rapping. Songz stated himself that he thought singing wasn't for him until other people noticed he sounded good. He cited this as encouragement do pursue singing. He developed his talent for performing by entering local talent shows, which was pushed by his mother. After winning numerous talent shows previously, Songz was discovered by prodcuer Troy Taylor, who had worked with such artists such as Patti Labelle, Boys II Men, SWV, and B2K. Taylor became Songz' mentor, advising him to finish high school before attempting a music career.

When he graduated high school, Songz moved to Taylor's home state of New Jersey to begin his music career. While working with Taylor, Songz crafted his skills by studying Motown classics the works of Prince and R. Kelly, among others. He was later scored a writing deal in November 2003 with Atlantic Records, where he penned songs for artists such as Patti LaBelle and Kevin Lyttle. In 2004, he signed a recording deal with Atlantic. While recording his first album, Songz released several mixtapes under the alias, "The Prince of Virginia." He gained notoriety with a particular track, a answer song to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet." The song was dubbed an "underground" success, after being featured on mixtapes and eventually garnering airplay on several major radio stations. Songz said, "That bugged me the hell out! It's a thing I did for fun that got more shine than it was meant to get."

In 2005, Songz released his debut album, I Gotta Make It, which was produced by Taylor. It also featured appearances from Twista and Aretha Franklin. It debuted at number twenty on the Billboard 200, selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The album received positive feedback from critics, with Andy Kellman of Allmusic stating that it was "both very enjoyable and full of promise, carrying a fine balance between throwback and modern hip-hop soul."

External links

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = November 28, 1984 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} [[Category:1984 births]] [[Category:Living people]]