When Trey Songz rocketed to mass popularity in 2010 with hit singles “Say Aah” and “Bottoms Up,” he set a high standard for his music. With the internet buzzing with speculation about Chapter 5, his upcoming 2012 studio album, the five-track EP Inevitable provides a clear preview of Songz’s newest work. Unfortunately, Inevitable without question misses the high mark of his 2010 singles, and what remains is a steaming pile of rap that leaves former fans praying that the inevitable transformation of the EP into Chapter 5 never comes.
Trey Songz begins his album with shameless self-promotion in the track “Top Of The World,” singing, “if you’re talking money, boy, you’re preaching to the choir.” The song defies any semblance of well-constructed rap—the beat is interrupted numerous times, and the lyrics drift from sex to money to, inevitably, mass consumption of marijuana. Songz attempts to emulate the confusion and disorientation that comes with smoking, but only ends up sabotaging a track that may have at the very least been acceptable.
By briefly mentioning his rise out of poverty, “Top Of The World” attempts to delve into the increasingly popular social consciousness in the music industry. But the next track, “What I Be On,” dives once again into the dark turmoil of women, drugs, alcohol, and suffers from a complete lack of lyrical substance. In an attempt to recreate the success of “Say Aah,” Trey Songz once again teams up with Fabolous, but “What I Be On” ultimately falls flat.
The final track on the EP, “Sex Ain’t Better Than Love,” nearly redeems the album by focusing on an emotional ideal as its main subject. Though having an actual, concrete subject scores points for Songz, the aspiring rapper/singer ruins the opportunity he created when he starts off by bragging about having had more sex than Herman Cain has thus far denied.
This last song rounds off a truly disappointing EP, and sets low expectations for Chapter 5. For an artist with as much potential and as many collaborations with successful performers as Trey Songz, Inevitable should not have resulted in such a complete failure.
Voice’s Choice: “Top of the World”
This has to be the most biased, unprofessional writing that i have seen in a while. This article is crap!
Jermaine, this is a review, not politically correct commentary or the BBC’s discussion of the DREAM Act. The purpose of a review is to express an opinion, i.e. bias. I happen to agree with you that the EP is good (if that is, in fact, your opinion, since you don’t actually present one), but this writer does start the article off on a good note before suffering a lapse of judgement. I would encourage a bit more tact when commenting on, well, anything.