When rolling out sat down with rising star Trey Songz for an exclusive photo shoot and video interview at Picture Ray Studio in New York City, the singer was on a visible high, thanks in large part to his tremendous billboard success and ongoing gig as the opening act for Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 Tour. But when the conversation turned to the R&B greats Songz idolized growing up, a sobering reality set in … many of these “legends” had experienced a hard fall from grace due to drug abuse, alcoholism, and financial mismanagement. When reminded of this fact, Songz was not only well aware of their problems, but he studied them to avoid a similar fate.
“My philosophy is that I want to study both success and failure. Most people only want to focus on the success of others. They find someone that they want to be like, and they try to pattern their life after that person. But I was taught a long time ago that you have to also study the people that you don’t want to be like. Ludacris’ manager Chaka Zulu taught me that. He said ‘you always have to pay attention to the failures of others so you can avoid that same mistake.’ So that’s what I do. If I see someone hit a pothole in their career, I know to avoid it when I’m driving down that same road. I think that mindset has helped me a lot … especially since some of these people have fallen due to the same things that I have a weakness for … like women.”
It remains to be seen if the Virginia born crooner can avoid the same vices that led to the downfall of past R&B greats like Jodeci and Bobby Brown. But one thing that’s refreshing about his approach to the industry is that he’s well aware of the dangers that exist. Let’s just hope he can avoid them. –dewayne rogers
