While growing up, the only active R&B artist
Trey Songz paid any mind to was
R. Kelly. The inspirations were few, but this didn't prevent him from being inspired enough to impress
Troy Taylor, a producer and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with
Boyz II Men,
SWV,
B2K, and
Whitney Houston.
Songz was taken under
Taylor's wing for a few years, leading up to this debut album, released when the singer was just 20 years old. While
Songz is hopefully shaking off his obvious indebtedness to
Kelly here (a couple clumsy sexual metaphors, some strikingly similar vocal cadences, a few jarring swings from pimping to praying),
I Gotta Make It is both very enjoyable and full of promise, carrying a fine balance between throwback and modern hip-hop soul. You can always sense that
Songz is excited to be making an album; he doesn't even bother to affect a distant sense of cool, unlike so many of his youthful contemporaries, which is a definite asset. He has all the personality and talent necessary to have a long, productive career, which is firmly established with this album. Others obviously believe in his future; he worked with
Gerald Levert and
Trick Daddy prior to making the album, and
Aretha Franklin starts it off with some wisdom. ~ Andy Kellman