Record producer Troy Taylor was introduced to Songz through Songz's stepfather with whom Taylor attended high school, ultimately leading to Songz signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2003. After graduating from Petersburg High School in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording did not actually begin until 2003. While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia. One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's " Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005.
It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. Songz's debut single, " Gotta Make It", featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, " Gotta Go", was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community.
After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, " Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit. In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed successful Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate and R. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week.
0 kommentar(er)
