Trey Songz is the kind of smooth-voiced R&B vocalist who very clearly communicates his desires—and just how soon he'd like to fulfill them. Yet he knows that a little patience can serve him well, too. As he pledges on "Can't Help But Wait," a breakthrough hit for the Virginia singer and rapper in 2007, "I don’t wanna come between you and your man, even though I know I treat you better than he can." With a characteristic show of confidence, Songz puts his stamp on the kind of instantly memorable melody and effervescent feel that the song's co-writing and production team, Stargate, also helped provide for Ne-Yo. The track that earned Songz both his first Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and his first Grammy nomination, "Can't Help But Wait," is not the only sign of his maturity here. Just as Trey Day sees Songz temper some of the brashness found on his 2005 debut, I Gotta Make It, his second album also provides a more complete view of the artist he's becoming by exploring a wider array of sounds and styles. One aspect is his embrace of a more electronic, club-ready sound, a quality that's clear on his two collaborations with Stargate—"Can't Help But Wait" and the irresistible "Missin You"—and his teaming with Danja on the harder-edged "Wonder Woman." At the same time, his exhilarating match-ups with UGK's Bun B on "Long Gone Missin" and Jim Jones on "Fly Together" demonstrate Songz's uncommon ability to find space for hip-hop attitude and energy inside more soulful settings. And even though "No Clothes On" and "Role Play" capture Songz at his most unabashedly carnal, the artist flips the script by adopting the gentlemanly manner of his '90s R&B heroes on "We Should Be," a luxuriant slow jam produced by the legendary team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
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