It’s been nearly a decade since Trey Songz emerged on the scene with “I Gotta Make It.” 9+ years later and on the heels of his sixth album release, Trey confidently boasts that he did things his way this time around. Fans can be assured that “Trigga” is the Virginia native’s “most honest” album to date. We were recently able to catch up with the beloved R&B crooner with the million dollar smile for an extremely honest and straightforward interview, where he dished on dating obstacles, love, his desire to start a family and reconciling with August Alsina following their highly publicized falling-out.
MN: You had an amazing performance at the BET Awards last night. We were happy to see you and August Alsina reunite on stage. How did that reunion come about considering that highly publicized falling out you two had?
Trey: You know, with the publicizing of August’s emotions a few months ago, I never wanted to respond to that in a negative light. One thing that I’ve realized over the last couple of years, you know stepping into the game is that we gotta work together. We gotta uplift one another. We can’t bring each other down. I understood August’s frustration. As a young artist doing a million interviews and people only asking you about this other n*gga, you know? After 40 interviews, you gonna pop off at some point. He ain’t mean all of that stuff he said. We had conversations about it. So when it came time to think about how we could put together an incredible performance, it was nothing. Aside from me and August at BET, it was Chris there. It was Usher. It was the Lionel Richie tribute. Missy came out. It was so many different generations of music and R&B in the building. It just felt right.
MN: In the past, you expressed a desire to be seen as a multidimensional individual as well as for your talent, as opposed to just a sex symbol or a “piece of meat” as you put it. Does being viewed in that light make dating more complicated for you?
Trey: It does a little bit. First of all, sometimes I just wanna kick it. I wanna chill out. If I’m dealing with somebody, they wanna have sex talking about how I do this, that and the other. They’re like, ‘It’s a cut right here. What’s up?’ That’s kind of crazy. Because I am so sexually viewed, when I’m actually interested in somebody, that’s the last thing on my mind. When I feel somebody for the person that they are, I love their conversation and I love being around them and I ain’t really tripping off of sex. Sex is something that for me, when you’re viewed as a sex symbol or however you want to put it, you know it’s an object. It’s whatever. It doesn’t hold as much value—to me. When I fall in love and making love, I’m all down for that. It does get a little tricky because you don’t know what people’s motives are. But it’s cool because I put myself in that position.
MN: It was very thoughtful of you to send all of those flowers to Nicki Minaj. You sort of flooded out her studio with them. If that’s how you’re handling a business relationship, I can only imagine what you’d do for someone who you’re in love with. Would you consider yourself to be the romantic type?
Trey: Oh, most definitely. When I’m in love with somebody, you’re going to feel it. You’re going to know it. Nicki has really taken control of her destiny and she has for so long. She’s at the point where she’s the hottest she’s ever been and for us to do a record right now, it’s amazing. Outside of that, it’s her. It’s her brand as a woman. What she got going on is dope to sit back and look at. She’s literally in this predominately male-based business and she’s running sh*t. That should be applauded.
MN: Is there someone special in your life right now?
Trey: I got somebody that I care about, but we’re not at that place. We ain’t even dealing with each other like that. For me, I’m focused on becoming a legend and making sure musically, I handle mine. Outside of that, I’m not looking for love, but I do want it one day. I want somebody to fall in love with, have kids with, all of that. But I don’t wanna rush that. I don’t wanna get to a place where I rush it and that’s not it. I want to be able to have kids and watch them grow up and see them say their first words.
